diff --git a/.version b/.version
index 18fc8443eec..6879fa566dd 100644
--- a/.version
+++ b/.version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-16.09
\ No newline at end of file
+17.03
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml
index 31a7ae04a4f..20d3f74f94b 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/release-notes.xml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 <para>This section lists the release notes for each stable version of NixOS
 and current unstable revision.</para>
 
+<xi:include href="rl-1703.xml" />
 <xi:include href="rl-1609.xml" />
 <xi:include href="rl-1603.xml" />
 <xi:include href="rl-1509.xml" />
diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1703.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1703.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c0fa4388a2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1703.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
+         xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
+         version="5.0"
+         xml:id="sec-release-17.03">
+
+<title>Release 17.03 (“XXX”, 2017/03/??)</title>
+
+<para>In addition to numerous new and upgraded packages, this release
+has the following highlights: </para>
+
+<itemizedlist>
+  <listitem>
+    <para></para>
+  </listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+
+<para>The following new services were added since the last release:</para>
+
+<itemizedlist>
+  <listitem>
+    <para></para>
+  </listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+
+
+<para>When upgrading from a previous release, please be aware of the
+following incompatible changes:</para>
+
+<itemizedlist>
+  <listitem>
+    <para></para>
+  </listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+
+
+<para>Other notable improvements:</para>
+
+<itemizedlist>
+  <listitem>
+    <para></para>
+  </listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+
+
+</section>