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| --- | ||
| title: "Valkey release cycle" | ||
| linkTitle: "Release cycle" | ||
| title: "Valkey releases and versioning" | ||
| linkTitle: "Valkey releases" | ||
| weight: 4 | ||
| description: How are new versions of Valkey released? | ||
| description: How new versions of Valkey released and supported | ||
| aliases: | ||
| - /topics/releases | ||
| --- | ||
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| Valkey is system software and a type of system software that holds user data, so | ||
| it is among the most critical pieces of a software stack. | ||
| Valkey is usually among the most critical pieces of a software stack. | ||
| For this reason, Valkey's release cycle prioritizes highly stable releases at the cost of slower release cycles. | ||
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| For this reason, Valkey's release cycle is such that it ensures highly stable | ||
| releases, even at the cost of slower cycles. | ||
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| New releases are published in the [Valkey GitHub repository](https://github.com/valkey-io/valkey/releases). | ||
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| ## Release cycle | ||
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| A given version of Valkey can be at three different levels of stability: | ||
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| * Unstable | ||
| * Release Candidate | ||
| * Stable | ||
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| ### Unstable tree | ||
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| The unstable version of Valkey is located in the `unstable` branch in the | ||
| [Valkey GitHub repository](https://github.com/valkey-io/valkey). | ||
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| This branch is the source tree where most of the new features are under | ||
| development. `unstable` is not considered production-ready: it may contain | ||
| critical bugs, incomplete features, and is potentially unstable. | ||
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| However, we try hard to make sure that even the unstable branch is usable most | ||
| of the time in a development environment without significant issues. | ||
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| ### Release candidate | ||
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| New minor and major versions of Valkey begin by branching off the `unstable` | ||
| branch. The branch name is the target release on the form *major.minor*. | ||
| Subsequent patch releases are made on the same branch. | ||
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| For example, when Valkey 7.2.5 was released, the release was made on the `7.2` | ||
| branch, which had been branched off from `unstable` earlier. | ||
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| Bug fixes and new features that can be stabilized during the release's time | ||
| frame are committed to the unstable branch and backported to the release | ||
| candidate branch. The `unstable` branch may include additional work that is not | ||
| a part of the release candidate and scheduled for future releases. | ||
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| The first release candidate, or RC1, is released once it can be used for | ||
| development purposes and for testing the new version. At this stage, most of | ||
| the new features and changes the new version brings are ready for review, and | ||
| the release's purpose is collecting the public's feedback. | ||
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| Subsequent release candidates are released every three weeks or so, primarily | ||
| for fixing bugs. These may also add new features and introduce changes, but at | ||
| a decreasing rate and decreasing potential risk towards the final release | ||
| candidate. | ||
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| ### Stable tree | ||
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| Once development has ended and the frequency of critical bug reports for the | ||
| release candidate wanes, it is ready for the final release. At this point, the | ||
| release is marked as stable and is released with "0" as its patch-level | ||
| version. | ||
| All Valkey releases are published in the [Valkey GitHub repository](https://github.com/valkey-io/valkey/releases). | ||
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| ## Versioning | ||
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| Stable releases liberally follow the usual `major.minor.patch` semantic | ||
| versioning schema. The primary goal is to provide explicit guarantees regarding | ||
| backward compatibility. | ||
| Valkey stable releases will follow generally `major.minor.patch` [semantic versioning schema](https://semver.org/). | ||
| We follow semantic versioning to provide explicit guarantees regarding backward compatibility. | ||
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| ### Patch-Level versions | ||
| ### Patch versions | ||
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| Patches primarily consist of bug fixes and very rarely introduce any | ||
| compatibility issues. | ||
| PATCH versions are released with backwards compatible bug fixes and should not introduce new features. | ||
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| Upgrading from a previous patch-level version is almost always safe and | ||
| seamless. | ||
| Upgrading from a previous patch version should be safe and seamless. | ||
| It should be safe to run a Valkey cluster with servers running on different patch versions. | ||
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| New features and configuration directives may be added, or default values | ||
| changed, as long as these don’t carry significant impacts or introduce | ||
| operations-related issues. | ||
| PATCH versions may also introduce small improvements such as performance or memory optimizations that don't come with any tradeoffs. | ||
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| ### Minor versions | ||
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| Minor versions usually deliver maturity and extended functionality. | ||
| MINOR version are released with new functionality that is added in a backward compatible manner. | ||
| Examples of new functionality include new commands, info fields, or configuration parameters. | ||
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| Upgrading from a previous minor version should be safe, and will not introduce incompatibilities between servers in the cluster. | ||
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| Upgrading between minor versions does not introduce any application-level | ||
| compatibility issues. | ||
| **NOTE:** Minor releases may include new commands and data types that can introduce incompatibility between servers in the cluster, but users need to opt-in to these features to cause this type of incompatibility. | ||
| For this reason, it is not recommended to run a Valkey cluster with servers running on different minor versions. | ||
| Users should also avoid new features until all servers in the cluster have been upgrades. | ||
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| Minor releases may include new commands and data types that introduce | ||
| operations-related incompatibilities, including changes in data persistence | ||
| format and replication protocol. | ||
| Commands may also be deprecated in minor versions. | ||
| If a command is deprecated, a replacement command or an alternative to using the command will be defined in the same minor version. | ||
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| ### Major versions | ||
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| Major versions introduce new capabilities and significant changes. | ||
| MAJOR versions are released with significant functionality that may break backwards compatibility or alter key performance characteristics. | ||
| Examples of significant functionality include altering the behavior of an existing command, removing previously deprecated commands, changing the default value of configs, and significant refactoring for performance improvements. | ||
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| Ideally, these don't introduce application-level compatibility issues. | ||
| Upgrading from a previous major version is intended to be safe, but should be approached with caution. | ||
| You should carefully read the release notes before performing a major version upgrade. | ||
| Major version upgrades do not guarantee backwards compatibility, which means you should always upgrade replicas before upgrading primaries in order to ensure data consistency. | ||
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| The Valkey community strives to make as few backwards breaking changes as possible. | ||
| When breaking changes are required, we will also strive to provide a way to mitigate the impact without incuring downtime to your application. | ||
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| ## Release schedule | ||
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| A new major version is planned for release once a year. | ||
| The Valkey community strives to release a stable major version once a year. | ||
| Stable minor versions are created as needed in between major releases, and we aim to release at least one minor version a year. | ||
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| Generally, every major release is followed by a minor version after six months. | ||
| ### Release candidate | ||
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| Patches are released as needed to fix high-urgency issues, or once a stable | ||
| version accumulates enough fixes to justify it. | ||
| New minor and major versions of Valkey begin by branching off the `unstable` branch as an initial release candidate branch, which take the form *major.minor.patch-R#*. | ||
| The first release candidate, or RC1, is released once it can be used for development purposes and for testing the new version. | ||
| At this stage, most of the new features and changes in the new version are ready for review, and the version is released for the purpose of collecting the public's feedback. | ||
| Subsequent release candidates are released every coupe of weeks, primarily for fixing bugs and refining features based off of user input. | ||
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| For contacting the core team on sensitive matters and security issues, please | ||
| see [SECURITY.md](https://github.com/valkey-io/valkey/blob/unstable/SECURITY.md). | ||
| ### Stable release | ||
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| ## Support | ||
| Once development has ended and the feedback for release candidate slows down, it is ready for the final release. | ||
| At this point, the release is marked as stable and is released with "0" as its patch-level version. | ||
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| As a rule, older versions are not supported as we try very hard to make the | ||
| API mostly backward compatible. | ||
| Patches are released as needed to fix high-urgency issues, or once a stable version accumulates enough fixes to justify it. | ||
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| Upgrading to newer versions is the recommended approach and is usually trivial. | ||
| ## Support | ||
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| The latest stable release is always fully supported and maintained. | ||
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| Two additional versions receive maintenance only, meaning that only fixes for | ||
| critical bugs and major security issues are committed and released as patches: | ||
| The Valkey community will provide maintanence support, providing patch releases for bug fixes and all security fixes, for 3 years from when a version was first released. | ||
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| The Valkey community will also provide extended security security support for the latest minor version of each major version for 5 years from when a version was first released. | ||
| The Valkey community will only backport security issues we believe to be possible to exploit, which will be up to the discretion of the TSC. | ||
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| For contacting the core team on sensitive matters and security issues, please see [SECURITY.md](https://github.com/valkey-io/valkey/blob/unstable/SECURITY.md). | ||
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| * The previous minor version of the latest stable release. | ||
| * The previous stable major release. | ||
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| For example, consider the following hypothetical versions: 1.2, 2.0, 2.2, 3.0, | ||
| 3.2. | ||
| ### List of supported versions | ||
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| When version 2.2 is the latest stable release, both 2.0 and 1.2 are maintained. | ||
| | Version | Initial release | Maintenence support end | Extended Security support end | | ||
| | -- | -- | -- | -- | | ||
| | 7.2 | 2024-04-16 | 2027-04-16 | 2029-04-16 | | ||
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| Once version 3.0.0 replaces 2.2 as the latest stable, versions 2.0 and 2.2 are | ||
| maintained, whereas version 1.x reaches its end of life. | ||
| ## Unstable tree | ||
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| This process repeats with version 3.2.0, after which only versions 2.2 and 3.0 | ||
| are maintained. | ||
| The unstable development tree of Valkey is located in the `unstable` branch in the [Valkey GitHub repository](https://github.com/valkey-io/valkey). | ||
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| The above are guidelines rather than rules set in stone and will not replace | ||
| common sense. | ||
| This branch is the source tree where most of the new features are under development. | ||
| `unstable` is not considered production-ready: it may contain critical bugs, incomplete features, and is potentially unstable. | ||
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| However, we try hard to make sure that even the unstable branch is usable most of the time in a development environment without significant issues. |