-.. stable_lts_releases:
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+ Copyright 2018 The DPDK contributors
+
+.. _stable_lts_releases:
DPDK Stable Releases and Long Term Support
==========================================
---------------
Any major release of DPDK can be designated as a Stable Release if a
-maintainer volunteers to maintain it.
+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.
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.
-----------
A stable release can be designated as an LTS release based on community
-agreement and a commitment from a maintainer. An LTS release will have a
-maintenance duration of 2 years.
+agreement and a commitment from a maintainer. The current policy is that each
+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.
-The current DPDK LTS release is 16.11.
+A LTS release may align with the declaration of a new major ABI version,
+please read the :doc:`abi_policy` for more information.
It is anticipated that there will be at least 4 releases per year of the LTS
or approximately 1 every 3 months. However, the cadence can be shorter or
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.
+
+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.
+Backporting should be limited to bug fixes. All patches accepted on the master
+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.
+
+Fixes suitable for backport should have a ``Cc: stable@dpdk.org`` tag in the
+commit message body as follows::
+
+ doc: fix some parameter description
+
+ Update the docs, fixing description of some parameter.
+
+ Fixes: abcdefgh1234 ("doc: add some parameter")
+ Cc: stable@dpdk.org
+
+ Signed-off-by: Alex Smith <alex.smith@example.com>
+
+
+Fixes not suitable for backport should not include the ``Cc: stable@dpdk.org`` tag.
Features should not be backported to stable releases. It may be acceptable, in
limited cases, to back port features for the LTS release where:
list.
All fix patches to the master branch that are candidates for backporting
-should also be CCed to the `stable@dpdk.org <http://dpdk.org/ml/listinfo/stable>`_
+should also be CCed to the `stable@dpdk.org <http://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://dpdk.org/ml/listinfo/announce>`_
+* Sending an announcement to the `announce@dpdk.org <http://mails.dpdk.org/listinfo/announce>`_
list.
-Stable releases are available on the `dpdk.org download page <http://dpdk.org/download>`_.
-
-
-ABI
----
-
-The Stable Release should not be seen as a way of breaking or circumventing
-the DPDK ABI policy.
+Stable releases are available on the `dpdk.org download page <http://core.dpdk.org/download/>`_.
git.droids-corp.org / dpdk.git / blobdiff