mirror of
https://github.com/zulip/zulip.git
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04bff0fe26
- Clarify what we mean by supported ranges of Git versions. - Document terminal app compatibility policies. - Clarify that forks are an option on top of all supported Git versions.
225 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
225 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
# Release lifecycle
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This page provides an overview of Zulip server and client app release
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lifecycles. As discussed below, we highly recommend running [the latest Zulip
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server release](#stable-releases). We work extremely hard to make sure these
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releases are stable and have no regressions, and that the [upgrade
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process](../production/upgrade.md) Just Works.
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New server releases are announced via the low-traffic [zulip-announce email
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list](https://groups.google.com/g/zulip-announce). Please subscribe to get
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notified about new security releases.
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## Server and web app versions
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The Zulip server and web app are developed together in the [Zulip
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server repository][zulip-server].
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### Stable releases
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:::{note}
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The first digit of the Zulip server release version is its major release series
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(e.g., 9.4 is part of the 9.x series).
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:::
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Organizations self-hosting Zulip primarily use stable releases (e.g., Zulip {{
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LATEST_RELEASE_VERSION }}).
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- [New major releases][blog-major-releases], like Zulip 9.0, are published twice
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a year, and contain hundreds of features, bug fixes, and improvements to Zulip's
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internals.
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- New maintenance releases, like 9.4, are published roughly once a month.
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Maintenance releases are designed to have no risky changes and be easy to
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reverse, to minimize stress for administrators.
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When upgrading to a new major release series, we recommend always upgrading to
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the latest maintenance release in that series, so that you use the latest
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version of the upgrade code.
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[blog-major-releases]: https://blog.zulip.com/tag/major-releases/
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#### Security releases
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When we discover a security issue in Zulip, we publish a security and
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bug fix release, transparently documenting the issue using the
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industry-standard [CVE advisory process](https://cve.mitre.org/).
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When new security releases are published, we simultaneously publish
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the fixes to the `main` and stable release branches, so
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that anyone using those branches can immediately upgrade as well.
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See also our [security model][security-model] documentation.
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[security-model]: ../production/security-model.md
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### Git versions
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Many Zulip servers run versions from Git that have not been published
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in a stable release.
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- You can [upgrade to `main`][upgrading-to-main] for the latest changes.
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- We maintain Git branches with names like `9.x` containing backported
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commits from `main` that we plan to include in the next maintenance
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release. Self-hosters can [upgrade][upgrade-from-git] to these
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stable release branches to get bug fixes staged for the next stable
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release (which is very useful when you reported a bug whose fix we
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choose to backport). We support these branches as though they were a
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stable release.
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- The bleeding-edge server for the [Zulip development community][chat-zulip-org]
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at <https://chat.zulip.org> runs the `chat.zulip.org` branch. It's upgraded
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to `main` several times a week. We also often "test deploy" changes not yet in
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`main` to this branch, to facilitate design feedback.
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- [Zulip Cloud](https://zulip.com) runs the `zulip-cloud-current` branch plus
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some cherry-picked changes. This branch is usually delayed by one to two weeks
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from `main` to allow for recent changes to be validated further prior to being
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deployed to customers.
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- You can also run [a fork of Zulip][fork-zulip] on top of any of
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these branches.
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[upgrade-from-git]: ../production/upgrade.md#upgrading-from-a-git-repository
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### What version am I running?
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The Zulip web app displays the current server version [in the gear
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menu](https://zulip.com/help/view-zulip-version); it's also available [via the
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API](https://zulip.com/api/get-server-settings).
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### Versioned documentation
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To make sure you can access documentation for your server version, [the help
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center](https://zulip.com/help/), [API documentation](https://zulip.com/api/),
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and [integrations documentation](https://zulip.com/integrations/) are
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distributed with the Zulip server itself (e.g.,
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`https://zulip.example.com/help/`).
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This ReadTheDocs documentation has a widget in the top left corner
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that lets you view the documentation for other versions.
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## Client apps
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Zulip's official client apps support all Zulip server versions
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released in the **previous 18 months**.
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The official client apps are designed to be compatible with
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intermediate Zulip server Git commits between the oldest supported
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server release and the current `main` branch.
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This allows server administrators to take advantage of the ability to
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upgrade to [Git versions](#git-versions) without breaking clients.
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[The API changelog](https://zulip.com/api/changelog) details all
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changes to the API, to make it easy for third-party client developers
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to maintain a similar level of compatibility.
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### Mobile app
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The Zulip mobile apps release new versions from the development
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branch frequently (usually every couple weeks). Except when fixing a
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critical bug, releases are first published to our [beta
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channels][mobile-beta].
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Mobile and desktop client apps update automatically, unless a user disables
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automatic updates.
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### Desktop app
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The Zulip [desktop app](https://zulip.com/apps/) is implemented in
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[Electron][electron], the browser-based desktop application framework used by
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essentially all modern chat applications. The Zulip UI in these apps is served
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from the Zulip server (and thus can vary between tabs when it is connected to
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organizations hosted by different servers).
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The desktop app automatically updates soon after each new release. New desktop
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app releases rarely contain new features, because the desktop app tab inherits
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its features from the Zulip server/web app. However, it is important to upgrade
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because they often contain important security or OS compatibility fixes from the
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upstream Chromium project. Be sure to leave automatic updates enabled, or
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otherwise arrange to promptly upgrade after new security releases.
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The Zulip server supports blocking access or displaying a warning to
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users attempting to access the server with extremely old or known
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insecure versions of the Zulip desktop and mobile apps, with an error
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message telling the user to upgrade.
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### Terminal app
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The beta Zulip [terminal app](https://github.com/zulip/zulip-terminal)
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is designed to support the same range of server versions targeted by
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other client apps.
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However, we do not support running old versions of the terminal app
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against the latest Zulip server. This means that terminal app users
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will sometimes need to upgrade to the latest version after their Zulip
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Server is upgraded to a new major release.
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## Server and client app compatibility
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Zulip is designed to make sure you can always run the [latest server
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release](#server-and-web-app-versions) (and we highly recommend that you do
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so!). We therefore generally do not backport changes to previous stable
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release series, except in rare cases involving a security issue or
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critical bug discovered just after publishing a major release.
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The Zulip server preserves backwards compatibility in its API to support
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versions of the mobile and desktop apps released in the last 12 months. Because
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these clients auto-update, the vast majority of active clients will have upgraded
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by the time we desupport a version.
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As noted [above](#client-apps), Zulip's official client apps support
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all Zulip server versions released in the **previous 18 months**.
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### Upgrade nag
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The Zulip web app will display a banner warning users of a server running a
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Zulip release that is more than 18 months old, and is no longer officially
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supported by mobile and desktop apps. The nag will appear only to organization
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administrators starting a month before the deadline; after that, it will appear
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for all users on the server.
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You can adjust the deadline for your installation by setting, for
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example, `SERVER_UPGRADE_NAG_DEADLINE_DAYS = 30 * 21` in
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`/etc/zulip/settings.py`, and [restarting the server](../production/settings.md).
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:::{warning}
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Servers older than 18 months are likely to be vulnerable to security bugs in
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Zulip or its upstream dependencies.
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:::
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## Operating system support
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For platforms we support, like Debian and Ubuntu, Zulip aims to
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support all versions of the upstream operating systems that are fully
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supported by the vendor. We document how to correctly [upgrade the
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operating system][os-upgrade] for a Zulip server, including how to
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correctly chain upgrades when the latest Zulip release no longer
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supports your OS.
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Note that we consider [Ubuntu interim releases][ubuntu-release-cycle],
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which only have 8 months of security support, to be betas, not
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releases, and do not support them in production.
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[ubuntu-release-cycle]: https://ubuntu.com/about/release-cycle
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## API bindings
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The [Zulip API](https://zulip.com/api/) bindings, and related projects like the
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[Python](https://zulip.com/api/configuring-python-bindings) and
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[JavaScript](https://github.com/zulip/zulip-js#readme) bindings, are released
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independently as needed.
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[electron]: https://www.electronjs.org/
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[upgrading-to-main]: ../production/modify.md#upgrading-to-main
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[os-upgrade]: ../production/upgrade.md#upgrading-the-operating-system
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[chat-zulip-org]: https://zulip.com/development-community/
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[fork-zulip]: ../production/modify.md
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[zulip-server]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip
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[mobile-beta]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip-mobile#using-the-beta
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[label-blocker]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22priority%3A+blocker%22
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[label-high]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22priority%3A+high%22
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[label-help-wanted]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22help+wanted%22
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