Fix e2e cache miss on force push by saving build artifacts explicitly (#9952)

* Fix e2e cache miss on force push by saving artifacts explicitly

actions/cache@v4 writes the cache in a post-job hook that runs after the
job reports completion. The run-e2e-test jobs (needs: build) start as
soon as build completes, before that post-hook save runs, so on a force
push -- where the github.sha-keyed cache has no prior entry -- they
deterministically miss the cache and fail with
'stat velero.tar: no such file or directory'.

Switch the build job's lookups to actions/cache/restore and add explicit
actions/cache/save steps at the end of the job (CLI, image, and MinIO),
so the cache is written before build reports done. The run-e2e-test
reads become actions/cache/restore.

Fixes #9927

Signed-off-by: alliasgher <alliasgher123@gmail.com>

* Add changelog for #9952

Signed-off-by: alliasgher <alliasgher123@gmail.com>

---------

Signed-off-by: alliasgher <alliasgher123@gmail.com>

.github/workflows/e2e-test-kind.yaml

@@ -39,14 +39,14 @@ jobs:
       # Look for a CLI that's made for this PR
       - name: Fetch built CLI
         id: cli-cache
-        uses: actions/cache@v6
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v6
         with:
           path: ./_output/bin/linux/amd64/velero
           # The cache key a combination of the current PR number and the commit SHA
           key: velero-cli-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}-${{ github.sha }}
       - name: Fetch built image
         id: image-cache
-        uses: actions/cache@v6
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v6
         with:
           path: ./velero.tar
           # The cache key a combination of the current PR number and the commit SHA
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ jobs:
           docker save velero:pr-test-linux-amd64 -o ./velero.tar
       # Build the MinIO image once for all e2e tests, from the reviewed bitnami/containers commit.
       - name: Cache MinIO Image
-        uses: actions/cache@v6
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v6
         id: minio-cache
         with:
           path: ./minio-image.tar
@@ -81,6 +81,29 @@ jobs:
           cd /tmp/bitnami-containers/bitnami/minio/2026/debian-12
           docker build -t bitnami/minio:local .
           docker save bitnami/minio:local > ${{ github.workspace }}/minio-image.tar
+      # Save the freshly built artifacts to the cache explicitly, before this
+      # job reports completion. actions/cache saves in a post-job hook that
+      # runs *after* the job finishes, so the dependent run-e2e-test jobs (which
+      # start as soon as build completes) would race the save and miss the cache
+      # on a force push. See #9927.
+      - name: Save built CLI to cache
+        if: steps.cli-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        uses: actions/cache/save@v6
+        with:
+          path: ./_output/bin/linux/amd64/velero
+          key: velero-cli-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}-${{ github.sha }}
+      - name: Save built image to cache
+        if: steps.image-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        uses: actions/cache/save@v6
+        with:
+          path: ./velero.tar
+          key: velero-image-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}-${{ github.sha }}
+      - name: Save MinIO image to cache
+        if: steps.minio-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        uses: actions/cache/save@v6
+        with:
+          path: ./minio-image.tar
+          key: minio-bitnami-${{ steps.minio-version.outputs.dockerfile_sha }}
   # Create json of k8s versions to test
   # from guide: https://stackoverflow.com/a/65094398/4590470
   setup-test-matrix:
@@ -157,7 +180,7 @@ jobs:
 
       # Fetch the pre-built MinIO image from the build job
       - name: Fetch built MinIO Image
-        uses: actions/cache@v6
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v6
         id: minio-cache
         with:
           path: ./minio-image.tar
@@ -176,13 +199,13 @@ jobs:
           node_image: "kindest/node:v${{ matrix.k8s }}"
       - name: Fetch built CLI
         id: cli-cache
-        uses: actions/cache@v6
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v6
         with:
           path: ./_output/bin/linux/amd64/velero
           key: velero-cli-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}-${{ github.sha }}
       - name: Fetch built Image
         id: image-cache
-        uses: actions/cache@v6
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v6
         with:
           path: ./velero.tar
           key: velero-image-${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}-${{ github.sha }}