Any release of DPDK can be designated as a Stable Release if a
maintainer volunteers to maintain it and there is a commitment from major
-contributors to validate it before releases. If a release is to be designated
-as a Stable Release, it should be done by 1 month after the master release.
+contributors to validate it before releases.
+If a version is to be a "Stable Release", it should be designated as such
+within one month of that version being initially released.
A Stable Release is used to backport fixes from an ``N`` release back to an
``N-1`` release, for example, from 16.11 to 16.07.
year's November (X.11) release will be maintained as an LTS for 2 years.
After the X.11 release, an LTS branch will be created for it at
-http://git.dpdk.org/dpdk-stable where bugfixes will be backported to.
+https://git.dpdk.org/dpdk-stable where bugfixes will be backported to.
A LTS release may align with the declaration of a new major ABI version,
please read the :doc:`abi_policy` for more information.
fixes. Releases should be coordinated with the validation engineers to ensure
that a tagged release has been tested.
-The current maintained LTS branches are 17.11 and 18.11.
+For a list of the currently maintained stable/LTS branches please see
+the latest `stable roadmap <https://core.dpdk.org/roadmap/#stable>`_.
At the end of the 2 years, a final X.11.N release will be made and at that
point the LTS branch will no longer be maintained with no further releases.
What changes should be backported
---------------------------------
-Backporting should be limited to bug fixes. All patches accepted on the master
+Backporting should be limited to bug fixes. All patches accepted on the main
branch with a Fixes: tag should be backported to the relevant stable/LTS
branches, unless the submitter indicates otherwise. If there are exceptions,
they will be discussed on the mailing lists.
The Stable and LTS release are coordinated on the stable@dpdk.org mailing
list.
-All fix patches to the master branch that are candidates for backporting
-should also be CCed to the `stable@dpdk.org <http://mails.dpdk.org/listinfo/stable>`_
+All fix patches to the main branch that are candidates for backporting
+should also be CCed to the `stable@dpdk.org <https://mails.dpdk.org/listinfo/stable>`_
mailing list.
* Tagging the release with YY.MM.n (year, month, number).
* Uploading a tarball of the release to dpdk.org.
-* Sending an announcement to the `announce@dpdk.org <http://mails.dpdk.org/listinfo/announce>`_
+* Sending an announcement to the `announce@dpdk.org <https://mails.dpdk.org/listinfo/announce>`_
list.
-Stable releases are available on the `dpdk.org download page <http://core.dpdk.org/download/>`_.
+Stable releases are available on the `dpdk.org download page <https://core.dpdk.org/download/>`_.