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authorMarin Jankovski <maxlazio@gmail.com>2017-10-11 15:01:55 +0200
committerMarin Jankovski <maxlazio@gmail.com>2017-10-11 15:01:55 +0200
commit06d4448347004e63769fc70b9183497af631a0d3 (patch)
treec785d492c3146cecb2ecbb12771845563637c8a7 /doc/policy
parent565a2d7303e341bc0f839115316038bf305ec776 (diff)
downloadgitlab-ce-06d4448347004e63769fc70b9183497af631a0d3.tar.gz
Change location of the maintenance policy document. Add version support information. [CI skip]
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+# GitLab Maintenance Policy
+
+## Versioning
+
+GitLab follows the [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/) for its releases:
+`(Major).(Minor).(Patch)` in a [pragmatic way].
+
+- **Major version**: Whenever there is something significant or any backwards
+ incompatible changes are introduced to the public API.
+- **Minor version**: When new, backwards compatible functionality is introduced
+ to the public API or a minor feature is introduced, or when a set of smaller
+ features is rolled out.
+- **Patch number**: When backwards compatible bug fixes are introduced that fix
+ incorrect behavior.
+
+For example, for GitLab version 10.5.7:
+
+* `10` represents major version
+* `5` represents minor version
+* `7` represents patch number
+
+## Security releases
+
+The current stable release will receive security patches and bug fixes
+(eg. `8.9.0` -> `8.9.1`).
+
+Feature releases will mark the next supported stable
+release where the minor version is increased numerically by increments of one
+(eg. `8.9 -> 8.10`).
+
+Our current policy is to support one stable release at any given time.
+For medium-level security issues, we may consider backporting to the previous two
+monthly releases.
+
+For very serious security issues, there is [precedent](https://about.gitlab.com/2016/05/02/cve-2016-4340-patches/)
+to backport security fixes to even more monthly releases of GitLab. This decision
+is made on a case-by-case basis.
+
+## Version support
+
+We encourage everyone to run the latest stable release to ensure that you can
+easily upgrade to the most secure and feature-rich GitLab experience. In order
+to make sure you can easily run the most recent stable release, we are working
+hard to keep the update process simple and reliable.
+
+If you are unable to follow our monthly release cycle, there are a couple of
+cases you need to consider.
+
+It is considered safe to jump between patch versions and minor versions within
+one major version. For example, it is safe to:
+
+* Upgrade the patch version:
+ * `8.9.0` -> `8.9.7`
+ * `8.9.0` -> `8.9.1`
+ * `8.9.2` -> `8.9.6`
+* Upgrade the minor version:
+ * `8.9.4` -> `8.12.3`
+ * `9.2.3` -> `9.5.5`
+
+Upgrading the major version requires more attention.
+We cannot guarantee that upgrading between major versions will be seamless. As previously mentioned, major versions are reserved for backwards incompatible changes.
+
+We recommend that you first upgrade to the latest available minor version within
+your major version. By doing this, you can address any deprecation messages
+that could possibly change behaviour in the next major release.
+
+Please see the table below for some examples:
+
+| Latest stable version | Your version | Recommended upgrade path | Note |
+| -------------- | ------------ | ------------------------ | ---------------- |
+| 9.4.5 | 8.13.4 | `8.13.4` -> `8.17.7` -> `9.4.5` | `8.17.7` is the last version in version `8` |
+| 10.1.4 | 8.13.4 | `8.13.4` -> `8.17.7` -> `9.5.8` -> `10.1.4` | `8.17.7` is the last version in version `8`, `9.5.8` is the last version in version `9` |
+|
+
+
+More information about the release procedures can be found in our
+[release-tools documentation][rel]. You may also want to read our
+[Responsible Disclosure Policy][disclosure].
+
+
+[rel]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/release-tools/blob/master/doc/
+[disclosure]: https://about.gitlab.com/disclosure/
+[pragmatic way]: https://gist.github.com/jashkenas/cbd2b088e20279ae2c8e