Lifecycle policy
The following defines the platform's lifecycle policy for releases and maintenance.
The platform aims to release on a regular cadence and follow semantic versioning. We encourage users to run the latest stable release to stay up to date on features and security patches.
Due to the rapid development of the platform, each minor version receives active support for 6 months after its release. Active support ends on the End of Support (EOS) end date. After the EOS end date, the version enters End of Life (EOL), during which only critical security updates are backported. During active support, updates from the active development branch can be backported upon request.
Any previous versions which are not on the following list, are no longer in any support window.
Platform supported versions​
| Release | Released | End of Support (EOS) End Date | End of Life (EOL) End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| v4.9 | 2026 Apr 29 | 2026 Oct 29 | 2027 Jan 29 |
| v4.8 | 2026 Mar 16 | 2026 Sep 16 | 2026 Dec 16 |
| v4.7 | 2026 Feb 18 | 2026 Aug 18 | 2026 Nov 18 |
| v4.6 | 2026 Jan 29 | 2026 Jul 29 | 2026 Oct 29 |
| v4.5 | 2025 Oct 29 | 2026 Apr 29 | 2026 Jul 29 |
| v4.4 | 2025 Sep 09 | 2026 Mar 09 | 2026 Jun 09 |
| Versions below are no longer supported | |||
| v4.3 | 2025 Jun 03 | 2025 Dec 03 | 2026 Mar 06 |
| v4.2 | 2024 Dec 17 | 2025 Sep 17 | 2025 Dec 17 |
| v4.1 | 2024 Nov 12 | 2025 Feb 12 | 2025 May 12 |
| v4.0 | 2024 Oct 15 | 2025 Jan 15 | 2025 Apr 15 |
| v3.4 | 2024 Feb 29 | 2025 Apr 01* | 2025 Jul 01 |
* Due to the number of breaking changes from vCluster v0.19 to v0.20 and vCluster Platform v3.4 to v4.0, v3.4 has an extended EOS end date. Review the migration guide to upgrade your platform from v3.4 to v4.0.
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End of Support (EOS): The period when active support for a version has ended and only critical security updates are provided. This period begins on the EOS date and lasts 3 months.
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End of Life (EOL): The period when all support, including security updates, has ended for a version. This period begins on the EOL date and continues indefinitely.
Feature Versioning​
While most features we release are fully supported, some are introduced at an earlier stage of development. These stages generally align with Kubernetes conventions, with the exception of experimental features which may be removed at any time.
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Alpha: Newly introduced features which may include breaking changes in future releases.
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Beta: Features that are more stable and considered safe, but not recommended for business critical applications.