cPanel & WHM Versions and Release Process

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cPanel/WHM Versions and Release Process

This document explains the cPanel/WHM versioning system and release process.

Version Numbers

cPanel/WHM version numbers consist of 3 values, separated by periods (.):

• parent value.major value.minor value — for example: 11.25.1

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

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.

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 is incremented.

The major value is often the most useful value in the product version number, because it indicates a discrete set of changes in cPanel/WHM.

In addition, we have assigned meanings to odd and even major values:

* For more information about development and production releases, see cPanel/WHM Releases below.
** For more information about tiers, see Release Tiers below.

Minor Value

The minor value is an integer incremented for each unique build of cPanel/WHM.

There is no upper limit to this value. In development versions, this value may even reach 100+ before the major value is incremented to an even value.

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  Code Lines 

The current development line of code will be referred to internally as the "trunk."  The production line of code will be referred to as the parent and major value of its release as the "production" branch.  cPanel's development process will be focused around these 2 branches of the code base.  The production code line will be used to deliver the production ready version of the product.  The trunk code line will be used for new development associated with the next production version.

  Production branch following public release 

Immediately following the public release of a completed feature set in production builds, there will only be one code line.  The production line of code will not be branched from the trunk until immediately prior to committal of changes associated with the next target production version.  At that point, the production line of code will be tagged as the production version, allowing disruptive changes to enter the trunk without impacting the code line associated with the current production version of cPanel/WHM.

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Release Tiers

Since its creation, cPanel has released publicly in 4 tiers:

• STABLE
• RELEASE
• CURRENT
• EDGE

This scheme allows rapid development and quick availability of new versions of cPanel/WHM. Server owners select a cPanel/WHM tier (sometimes called a "release tree") that reflects the degree to which they value stability on the one hand, or new features and update frequency on the other.

* Due to the dynamic nature of EDGE builds, you should only use EDGE for compatibility and functionality testing in a controlled environment. This tier is not recommended for production servers.

cPanel DNSONLY

cPanel DNSONLY is handled as a separate release. While DNSONLY is built from the same code base as cPanel/WHM, it may be significantly behind the STABLE build tier.

Other Releases

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.

cPanel/WHM Releases

We release cPanel/WHM simultaneously across several architectures. In addition, different versions may release across several tiers on the same day.

We attempt to avoid scheduling releases on international holidays and weekends (Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon). We do this so that you can ensure your staffing requirements are met.

Development Releases

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.

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 have been tested and verified.

Production Releases

A production release of cPanel/WHM includes between 1 and 3 significant sets of changes. We refer to sets of changes as "projects." Each project may include external and internal changes to cPanel/WHM.

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.

Production Release Updates

We will update production releases periodically, to maintain them and improve their security.

The initial release of a production-ready version of the product will have a minor value of 0 (for example, 11.26.0). Subsequent builds of the production line will increment the minor version value.

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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  Development releases and maintenance for production releases 

Any active development work will take place in the development code base or the "trunk" code line.  Maintenance work for the production version of our product will generally affect both the development and production code lines.  These maintenance changes should flow from the development line of code into the production code line.  This process will help to ensure that maintenance efforts benefit both lines of code equally.

We will immediately merge approved maintenance changes into the official development line of code and back-port them to the production code line.  From here, test releases of each line of code can be published for testing and verification.

  Build Retention 

Only production versions of cPanel/WHM that are published into the STABLE build tree will have any defined build retention policy.  STABLE versions of the product will be publicly available for 6 months, following the publication of the next STABLE version.  We will retain other builds for an unspecified period of time.  These versions of the product may or may not be made publicly available. 

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