Releases and support
Arbinel releases a new minor version on the last Thursday of every month. Only the newest release gets security fixes, so update to each monthly release within the month.
Schedule
Section titled “Schedule”| Release | When | Contents |
|---|---|---|
Minor, such as 0.3.0 |
The last Thursday of every month | Everything merged into main by then, including the Forgejo merges since the previous release. |
Patch, such as 0.3.1 |
When a security fix is ready | Security fixes only, for the newest minor version. |
Arbinel’s CI tags each release, so the date does not depend on a maintainer being available. The maintainers can hold a release back for a serious known problem. It then comes out once the problem is fixed, or with the next monthly release.
Each release names the Forgejo release it is built on. Upgrading shows where to find it.
Release notes
Section titled “Release notes”Each release lists its changes since the previous release on its release page. The notes group the changes into features, bug fixes, performance changes and maintenance, and link each change to its pull request. The same notes are built into the release. The footer shows them for the running version.
Version numbers
Section titled “Version numbers”Arbinel’s version numbers start at 0.1.0 and do not follow Forgejo’s.
- The minor version, the middle number, goes up with every monthly release.
- The patch version, the last number, goes up with every security release in between.
- The major version, the first number, goes up only for a change that breaks compatibility with an earlier Arbinel release.
Support
Section titled “Support”Arbinel supports only the newest minor version.
Each monthly release starts a release/v<major>.<minor> branch in arbinel/arbinel.
Patch releases come from that branch until the next monthly release, and the branch then gets no more fixes.
A patch release carries only the following fixes:
- Forgejo security releases.
- Fixes for vulnerabilities in Arbinel’s own code.
- Updates of a vulnerable dependency, when Arbinel’s code calls the affected code.
Bug fixes, other dependency updates and new features wait for the next monthly release.
If you need a release that gets security fixes for longer, run Forgejo’s long-term support release instead. An Arbinel instance can switch back to Forgejo without losing data.
Forgejo major versions
Section titled “Forgejo major versions”Forgejo publishes a new major version every three months, in January, April, July and October, on a fixed schedule.
Arbinel merges it into main at least a week after Forgejo’s release.
The last Thursday of those months is always more than a week after Forgejo’s release.
The monthly release in the same month therefore ships the new Forgejo major version, once the merge is ready.
If the merge needs more time, the following monthly release ships it.
Forgejo’s minor and patch releases, security releases included, reach main with the regular Forgejo merges.
A Forgejo security release also goes to the current release branch as a patch release.
Upgrade to a new Forgejo major version explains what to check before you upgrade to such a release.