Before the first customer backup is allowed to write to a freshly built Data Domain system, the engineer reads the DD OS release notes for the exact planned build. Which pre-installation practice does this support?

DD OS release notes for a specific build document new features, fixed issues, known issues, and restrictions—information that can change what the deployment does before go-live, such as deferring a feature until a patch or adjusting the upgrade path. Reading the notes for the exact build belongs in pre-acceptance review, while design choices remain cheap to change. Treating the notes as a CLI reference fails by concept: command syntax lives in the DD OS command-line reference documentation, while release notes describe what changed, broke, or was fixed in the build. Treating them as the support matrix fails because application compatibility is published in a separate interoperability tool; consulting the wrong document feels diligent but answers none of the questions. Using the notes as a license-activation path fails because features are enabled by valid license keys applied to the system—no document carries activation powers. The build-specific point matters: highlights for the DD OS family as a whole miss the known issues that were introduced and fixed between maintenance releases. Exam caveat: section naming varies across releases; the tested habit is reading the notes for the exact target build, not generic highlights. Operational check: open the release notes for the exact build, list the known issues and restrictions relevant to the planned feature set, and file that list in the deployment binder so post-deployment checks can verify any mitigations were applied.