1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause 2 Copyright 2018 The DPDK contributors 3 4.. _stable_lts_releases: 5 6DPDK Stable Releases and Long Term Support 7========================================== 8 9This section sets out the guidelines for the DPDK Stable Releases and the DPDK 10Long Term Support releases (LTS). 11 12 13Introduction 14------------ 15 16The purpose of the DPDK Stable Releases is to maintain releases of DPDK with 17backported fixes over an extended period of time. This provides downstream 18consumers of DPDK with a stable target on which to base applications or 19packages. 20 21The Long Term Support release (LTS) is a designation applied to a Stable 22Release to indicate longer term support. 23 24 25Stable Releases 26--------------- 27 28Any release of DPDK can be designated as a Stable Release if a 29maintainer volunteers to maintain it and there is a commitment from major 30contributors to validate it before releases. 31If a version is to be a "Stable Release", it should be designated as such 32within one month of that version being initially released. 33 34A Stable Release is used to backport fixes from an ``N`` release back to an 35``N-1`` release, for example, from 16.11 to 16.07. 36 37The duration of a stable is one complete release cycle (3 months). It can be 38longer, up to 1 year, if a maintainer continues to support the stable branch, 39or if users supply backported fixes, however the explicit commitment should be 40for one release cycle. 41 42The release cadence is determined by the maintainer based on the number of 43bugfixes and the criticality of the bugs. Releases should be coordinated with 44the validation engineers to ensure that a tagged release has been tested. 45 46 47LTS Release 48----------- 49 50A stable release can be designated as an LTS release based on community 51agreement and a commitment from a maintainer. The current policy is that each 52year's November (X.11) release will be maintained as an LTS for 2 years. 53 54After the X.11 release, an LTS branch will be created for it at 55https://git.dpdk.org/dpdk-stable where bugfixes will be backported to. 56 57A LTS release may align with the declaration of a new major ABI version, 58please read the :doc:`abi_policy` for more information. 59 60It is anticipated that there will be at least 4 releases per year of the LTS 61or approximately 1 every 3 months. However, the cadence can be shorter or 62longer depending on the number and criticality of the backported 63fixes. Releases should be coordinated with the validation engineers to ensure 64that a tagged release has been tested. 65 66For a list of the currently maintained stable/LTS branches please see 67the latest `stable roadmap <https://core.dpdk.org/roadmap/#stable>`_. 68 69At the end of the 2 years, a final X.11.N release will be made and at that 70point the LTS branch will no longer be maintained with no further releases. 71 72 73What changes should be backported 74--------------------------------- 75 76Backporting should be limited to bug fixes. All patches accepted on the main 77branch with a Fixes: tag should be backported to the relevant stable/LTS 78branches, unless the submitter indicates otherwise. If there are exceptions, 79they will be discussed on the mailing lists. 80 81Fixes suitable for backport should have a ``Cc: stable@dpdk.org`` tag in the 82commit message body as follows:: 83 84 doc: fix some parameter description 85 86 Update the docs, fixing description of some parameter. 87 88 Fixes: abcdefgh1234 ("doc: add some parameter") 89 Cc: stable@dpdk.org 90 91 Signed-off-by: Alex Smith <alex.smith@example.com> 92 93 94Fixes not suitable for backport should not include the ``Cc: stable@dpdk.org`` tag. 95 96Features should not be backported to stable releases. It may be acceptable, in 97limited cases, to back port features for the LTS release where: 98 99* There is a justifiable use case (for example a new PMD). 100* The change is non-invasive. 101* The work of preparing the backport is done by the proposer. 102* There is support within the community. 103 104 105The Stable Mailing List 106----------------------- 107 108The Stable and LTS release are coordinated on the stable@dpdk.org mailing 109list. 110 111All fix patches to the main branch that are candidates for backporting 112should also be CCed to the `stable@dpdk.org <https://mails.dpdk.org/listinfo/stable>`_ 113mailing list. 114 115 116Releasing 117--------- 118 119A Stable Release will be released by: 120 121* Tagging the release with YY.MM.n (year, month, number). 122* Uploading a tarball of the release to dpdk.org. 123* Sending an announcement to the `announce@dpdk.org <https://mails.dpdk.org/listinfo/announce>`_ 124 list. 125 126Stable releases are available on the `dpdk.org download page <https://core.dpdk.org/download/>`_. 127