Difference: CpanelProductVersions (13 vs. 14)

Revision 1411 Jan 2012 - MelanieSeibert

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cPanel & WHM Versions and the Release Process

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  This document explains the cPanel & WHM versioning system and release process.
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Version Numbers

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Version numbers

  cPanel & WHM version numbers consist of 4 values, separated by periods (.):
  • parent.major.minor.build — for example: 11.30.0.52

Each value of a cPanel & WHM version number has a distinct meaning.

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Parent Value

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Parent value

  The parent value is an incrementing integer. Its value will reflect major evolutionary steps for cPanel & WHM.

For example, parent version 12 of cPanel & WHM will include support for multiple cPanel instances.

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Major Value

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Major value

  The major value is also an incrementing integer, and has an upper limit of 99. This number is not required to reach its upper limit before the parent value increments.
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 * For more information about development and production releases, see cPanel & WHM Releases below.
** For more information about tiers, see Release Tiers below.
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Minor Value

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Minor value

  This value is a set of changes intended to stabilize the major value. Typically, a minor value will consist of mostly bug fixes.
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Build Value

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Build value

  This value is an integer incremented for each unique build of cPanel & WHM.
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<		There is no upper limit to this value. In development versions, it may even reach 100+ before the major value increments to an even value (indicating a production version).
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>		There is no upper limit to this value. In development releases, it may even reach 100+ before the major value increments to an even value (indicating a production release).
 
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Release Tiers

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cPanel & WHM releases

 
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<		Since its creation, cPanel has released publicly in 4 tiers:
  • STABLE
  • RELEASE
  • CURRENT
  • EDGE
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>		We release cPanel & WHM simultaneously across several architectures. In addition, we may publish several releases across different tiers on the same day.
 
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<		This scheme allows rapid development and quick availability of new versions of cPanel & WHM. Server owners select a cPanel & WHM tier that reflects the degree to which they value stability or new features and update frequency.
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>		We attempt to avoid scheduling releases on international holidays and weekends (Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon) to ensure your staffing requirements are met.
 
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Tier Description Publication Frequency
STABLE Has received considerable public exposure, testing, and verification. Published least frequently.
RELEASE Similar to STABLE, but has received slightly less testing. New installations default to RELEASE. Published more frequently than STABLE.
CURRENT Tested and verified, but may not contain all of the proposed functionality for a release. CURRENT is similar to the "release candidate" tier used under other publication schemes. Published more frequently than RELEASE.
EDGE Has received little real-world testing. Features are subject to further modification. Usually lacks official public documentation.* Published most frequently (up to several times per week).
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Development releases

 
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<		* Due to the dynamic nature of EDGE builds, you should only use EDGE for compatibility and functionality testing in a controlled environment. Do not use the EDGE tier on production servers.
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>		A development release of cPanel & WHM contains everything in the previous production release, plus one or more changes from new projects associated with the next planned release.
 
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cPanel DNSONLY

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>		We will only publish development releases in the EDGE and CURRENT tiers. However, we will not immediately publish changes into the CURRENT tier. Any changes that we publish into the CURRENT tier will be isolated to a desired set of functions that we have tested and verified.
 
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<		New versions of cPanel DNSONLY will be released concurrently with new versions of cPanel & WHM and will share the same build tier. Server owners running DNSONLY can update it at the same time they update their cPanel & WHM servers.
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Production releases

 
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Other Releases

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>		A production release of cPanel & WHM includes between 1 and 3 significant sets of changes. We refer to sets of changes as "projects."
 
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<		Other release versions exist in development tiers. These tiers are reserved for internal cPanel, Inc. usage and testing purposes only. Never use these versions of our software unless you are directed to do so by a cPanel representative.
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>		Production releases follow this schedule:
  1. We complete development for the production release.
  2. We test the functionality of the release's new features.
  3. We publish the release to the development tiers, and to the EDGE, CURRENT, and RELEASE tiers.
    • At this point, maintenance of previous production releases will cease. We will not publish any changes to the previous releases from this point forward.
  4. After the release enters the RELEASE tier, we assess any immediate maintenance needs.
  5. After we have assessed and corrected all of the existing needs, we publish the production release into the STABLE tier.
 
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cPanel & WHM Releases

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Production release updates
 
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<		We release cPanel & WHM simultaneously across several architectures. In addition, different versions may release across several tiers on the same day.
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>		We will update production releases periodically, to maintain them and improve their security.
  • The initial release of a production-ready release of cPanel & WHM will have a minor value of 0 (for example, 11.30.0).
  • Subsequent publications of the production release will increment the build value (for example, 11.30.0.1).
 
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<		We attempt to avoid scheduling releases on international holidays and weekends (Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon) to ensure your staffing requirements are met.
>
>		Some releases of a production line of code will be used for testing and verification, and may never be released into production tiers.
 
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<

Development Releases

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Release tiers

 
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<		A development release of cPanel & WHM contains everything in the previous production release, plus one or more changes from new projects associated with the next planned release.
>
>		Since its creation, cPanel has released publicly in 4 tiers:
  • STABLE
  • RELEASE
  • CURRENT
  • EDGE
 
Changed:
<
<		We will only publish development releases in the EDGE and CURRENT tiers. However, we will not immediately publish changes into the CURRENT tier. Any changes that we publish into the CURRENT tier will be isolated to a desired set of functions that we have tested and verified.
>
>		This scheme allows rapid development and quick availability of new releases of cPanel & WHM. Server owners select a cPanel & WHM tier that reflects the degree to which they value stability or new features and update frequency.
 
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<

Production Releases

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Tier Description Publication Frequency
STABLE Has received considerable public exposure, testing, and verification. Published least frequently.
RELEASE Similar to STABLE, but has received slightly less testing. New installations default to RELEASE. Published more frequently than STABLE.
CURRENT Tested and verified, but may not contain all of the proposed functionality for a release. CURRENT is similar to the "release candidate" tier used under other publication schemes.* Published more frequently than RELEASE.
EDGE Features are subject to further modification. Usually lacks official public documentation.* Published most frequently (up to several times per week).
 
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<		A production release of cPanel & WHM includes between 1 and 3 significant sets of changes. We refer to sets of changes as "projects."
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>		* Due to the dynamic nature of development releases, you should only use development releases for compatibility and functionality testing in a controlled environment. Do not use these releases on production servers. Development releases are publications of cPanel & WHM whose major values end in an odd number (e.g., 11.31).
 
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<		Production releases follow this schedule:
  1. We complete development for the production version.
  2. We test the functionality of the version's new features.
  3. We publish the version to the development tiers, and to the EDGE, CURRENT, and RELEASE tiers.
    • At this point, maintenance of previous production versions will cease. We will not release any changes to the previous version from this point forward.
  4. After the version enters the RELEASE tier, we assess any immediate maintenance needs.
  5. After we have assessed and corrected all of the existing needs, we release the production version into the STABLE tier.
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The Long-Term Support tier

 
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Production Release Updates
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>		Some server owners need an assured method of deploying new installations of cPanel & WHM in a specific version, even when that version is no longer the current production release. Those server owners can select Long-term support (LTS), and select the desired version number, from the Release Tier menu on the Update Preferences screen.
 
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<		We will update production releases periodically, to maintain them and improve their security.
  • The initial release of a production-ready version of cPanel & WHM will have a minor value of 0 (for example, 11.30.0).
  • Subsequent builds of the production version will increment the build value (for example, 11.30.0.1).
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>		For more information, read our Long-Term Support document.
 
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<		Some builds of a production line of code will be used for testing and verification, and may never be released into production tiers.
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cPanel DNSONLY

 
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>		New releases of cPanel DNSONLY will be published concurrently with new releases of cPanel & WHM and will share the same release tier. Server owners running DNSONLY can update it at the same time they update their cPanel & WHM servers.
 
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