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.. _release_and_maintenance:
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Release and maintenance
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=======================
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.. contents::
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:local:
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.. _release_cycle:
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Release cycle
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`````````````
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Ansible is developed and released on a flexible 4 months release cycle.
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This cycle can be extended in order to allow for larger changes to be properly
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implemented and tested before a new release is made available.
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Ansible has a graduated maintenance structure that extends to three major releases.
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For more information, read about the :ref:`development_and_stable_version_maintenance_workflow` or
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see the chart in :ref:`release_schedule` for the degrees to which current releases are maintained.
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If you are using a release of Ansible that is no longer maintained, we strongly
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encourage you to upgrade as soon as possible in order to benefit from the
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latest features and security fixes.
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Older, unmaintained versions of Ansible can contain unfixed security
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vulnerabilities (*CVE*).
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You can refer to the :ref:`porting guides<porting_guides>` for tips on updating your Ansible
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playbooks to run on newer versions.
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.. _release_schedule:
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Release status
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``````````````
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This table links to the release notes for each major release. These release notes (changelogs) contain the dates and significant changes in each minor release.
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============================== =================================================
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Ansible Release Status
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============================== =================================================
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devel In development (2.9 unreleased, trunk)
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`2.8 Release Notes`_ Maintained (security **and** general bug fixes)
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`2.7 Release Notes`_ Maintained (security **and** critical bug fixes)
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`2.6 Release Notes`_ Maintained (security fixes)
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`2.5 Release Notes`_ Unmaintained (end of life)
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`2.4 Release Notes`_ Unmaintained (end of life)
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`2.3 Release Notes`_ Unmaintained (end of life)
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`2.2 Release Notes`_ Unmaintained (end of life)
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`2.1 Release Notes`_ Unmaintained (end of life)
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`2.0 Release Notes`_ Unmaintained (end of life)
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`1.9 Release Notes`_ Unmaintained (end of life)
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<1.9 Unmaintained (end of life)
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============================== =================================================
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You can download the releases from `<https://releases.ansible.com/ansible/>`_.
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.. note:: Ansible maintenance continues for 3 releases. Thus the latest Ansible release receives
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security and general bug fixes when it is first released, security and critical bug fixes when
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the next Ansible version is released, and **only** security fixes once the follow on to that version is released.
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.. Comment: devel used to point here but we're currently revamping our changelog process and have no
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link to a static changelog for devel _2.6: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/devel/CHANGELOG.md
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.. _2.8 Release Notes:
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.. _2.8: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.8/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.8.rst
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.. _2.7 Release Notes: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.7/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.7.rst
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.. _2.6 Release Notes:
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.. _2.6: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.6/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.6.rst
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.. _2.5 Release Notes: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.5/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.5.rst
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.. _2.4 Release Notes:
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.. _2.4: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.4/CHANGELOG.md
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.. _2.3 Release Notes: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.3/CHANGELOG.md
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.. _2.2 Release Notes: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.2/CHANGELOG.md
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.. _2.1 Release Notes: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.1/CHANGELOG.md
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.. _2.0 Release Notes: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.0/CHANGELOG.md
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.. _1.9 Release Notes: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-1.9/CHANGELOG.md
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.. _support_life:
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.. _methods:
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.. _development_and_stable_version_maintenance_workflow:
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Development and stable version maintenance workflow
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```````````````````````````````````````````````````
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The Ansible community develops and maintains Ansible on GitHub_.
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New modules, plugins, features and bugfixes will always be integrated in what will become the next
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major version of Ansible. This work is tracked on the ``devel`` git branch.
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Ansible provides bugfixes and security improvements for the most recent major release. The previous
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major release will only receive fixes for security issues and critical bugs. Ansible only applies
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security fixes to releases which are two releases old. This work is tracked on the
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``stable-<version>`` git branches.
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The fixes that land in maintained stable branches will eventually be released
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as a new version when necessary.
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Note that while there are no guarantees for providing fixes for Unmaintained
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releases of Ansible, there can sometimes be exceptions for critical issues.
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.. _GitHub: https://github.com/ansible/ansible
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.. _release_changelogs:
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Changelogs
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~~~~~~~~~~
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Older versions logged changes in ``stable-<version>`` branches at ``stable-<version>/CHANGELOG.md``. For example, here is the changelog for 2.4_ on GitHub.
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We now generate changelogs based on fragments. Here is the generated changelog for 2.8_ as an example. When creating new features or fixing bugs, create a changelog fragment describing the change. A changelog entry is not needed for new modules or plugins. Details for those items will be generated from the module documentation.
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We've got :ref:`examples and instructions on creating changelog fragments <changelogs_how_to>` in the Community Guide.
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Release candidates
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Before a new release or version of Ansible can be done, it will typically go
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through a release candidate process.
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This provides the Ansible community the opportunity to test Ansible and report
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bugs or issues they might come across.
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Ansible tags the first release candidate (``RC1``) which is usually scheduled
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to last five business days. The final release is done if no major bugs or
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issues are identified during this period.
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If there are major problems with the first candidate, a second candidate will
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be tagged (``RC2``) once the necessary fixes have landed.
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This second candidate lasts for a shorter duration than the first.
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If no problems have been reported after two business days, the final release is
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done.
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More release candidates can be tagged as required, so long as there are
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bugs that the Ansible core maintainers consider should be fixed before the
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final release.
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.. _release_freezing:
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Feature freeze
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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While there is a pending release candidate, the focus of core developers and
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maintainers will on fixes towards the release candidate.
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Merging new features or fixes that are not related to the release candidate may
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be delayed in order to allow the new release to be shipped as soon as possible.
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Deprecation Cycle
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`````````````````
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Sometimes we need to remove a feature, normally in favor of a reimplementation that we hope does a better job.
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To do this we have a deprecation cycle. First we mark a feature as 'deprecated'. This is normally accompanied with warnings
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to the user as to why we deprecated it, what alternatives they should switch to and when (which version) we are scheduled
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to remove the feature permanently.
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The cycle is normally across 4 feature releases (2.x.y, where the x marks a feature release and the y a bugfix release),
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so the feature is normally removed in the 4th release after we announce the deprecation.
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For example, something deprecated in 2.5 will be removed in 2.9, assuming we don't jump to 3.x before that point.
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The tracking is tied to the number of releases, not the release numbering.
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For modules/plugins, we keep the documentation after the removal for users of older versions.
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.. seealso::
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:ref:`community_committer_guidelines`
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Guidelines for Ansible core contributors and maintainers
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:ref:`testing_strategies`
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Testing strategies
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:ref:`ansible_community_guide`
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Community information and contributing
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`Ansible release tarballs <https://releases.ansible.com/ansible/>`_
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Ansible release tarballs
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`Development Mailing List <https://groups.google.com/group/ansible-devel>`_
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Mailing list for development topics
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`irc.freenode.net <http://irc.freenode.net>`_
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#ansible IRC chat channel
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