Release cadence and support cycle

Mirantis aims to release Mirantis OpenStack for Kubernetes (MOSK) software regularly and often.

MOSK software includes OpenStack, Tungsten Fabric, life-cycle management tooling, other supporting software, and dependencies. Mirantis’s goal is to ensure that such updates are easy to install in zero-touch and zero-downtime fashion.

MOSK major and patch releases

MOSK release cadence consists of major, for example, MOSK 24.1, and patch, for example, MOSK 24.1.1 or 24.1.2, releases. The major release with the patch releases based on it are called a release series, for example, MOSK 24.1 series.

Both major and patch release versions incorporate solutions for security vulnerabilities and known product issues. The primary distinction between these two release types lies in the fact that major release versions introduce new functionalities, whereas patch release versions predominantly offer minor product enhancements.

Patch releases strive to considerably reduce the timeframe for delivering CVE resolutions in images to your deployments, aiding in the mitigation of cyber threats and data breaches.

Content	Major release	Patch release
Version update and upgrade of the major product components including but not limited to OpenStack, Tungsten Fabric, Kubernetes, Ceph, and Stacklight 0
Container runtime changes including Mirantis Container Runtime and containerd updates
Changes in public API
Changes in the Container Cloud and MOSK lifecycle management including but not limited to machines, clusters, Ceph OSDs
Host machine changes including host operating system and kernel updates
Patch version bumps of MKE and Kubernetes
Fixes for Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) in images
Fixes for known product issues

0

StackLight subcomponents may be updated during patch releases

Most patch release versions involve minor changes that only require restarting containers on the cluster during updates. However, the product can also deliver CVE fixes on Ubuntu, which includes updating the minor version of the Ubuntu kernel. This kernel update is not mandatory, but if you prioritize getting the latest CVE fixes for Ubuntu, you can manually reboot machines during a convenient maintenance window to update the kernel.

Each subsequent major release includes patch release updates of the previous major release.

You may decide to update between only major releases without updating to patch releases. In this case, you will perform updates from an N to N+1 major release. However, Mirantis recommends applying security fixes using patch releases as soon as they become available.

You can skip a number of patch releases and update to the latest one. Though, if between the two major releases you apply at least one patch release belonging to the N series, you should obtain the last patch release in the series to be able to update to the N+1 major release version.

See also

• Update a MOSK cluster to a patch release version

• Update a MOSK cluster to a major release version

OpenStack support cycle

Mirantis provides Long Term Support (LTS) for specific versions of OpenStack. LTS includes scheduled updates with new functionality, bug and security fixes. Mirantis intends to introduce support for new OpenStack version once a year. The LTS duration of an OpenStack version is two years.

The diagram below illustrates the current LTS support cycle for OpenStack. The upstream versions not mentioned in the diagram are not supported in the product as well as the upgrade paths from or to such versions.

Important

MOSK supports the OpenStack Victoria version until September, 2023. MOSK 23.2 is the last release version where OpenStack Victoria packages are updated.

If you have not already upgraded your OpenStack version to Yoga, Mirantis highly recommends doing this during the course of the MOSK 23.2 series.

Versions of Tungsten Fabric, underlying Kubernetes, Ceph, StackLight, and other supporting software and dependencies may change at Mirantis discretion. Follow Release Compatibility Matrix and product Release Notes for any changes in product component versions.

See also

Operations Guide: Upgrade OpenStack

Technology Preview features

A Technology Preview feature provides early access to upcoming product innovations, allowing customers to experiment with the functionality and provide feedback.

Technology Preview features may be privately or publicly available but neither are intended for production use. While Mirantis will provide assistance with such features through official channels, normal Service Level Agreements do not apply.

As Mirantis considers making future iterations of Technology Preview features generally available, we will do our best to resolve any issues that customers experience when using these features.

During the development of a Technology Preview feature, additional components may become available to the public for evaluation. Mirantis cannot guarantee the stability of such features. As a result, if you are using Technology Preview features, you may not be able to seamlessly update to subsequent product releases, as well as upgrade or migrate to the functionality that has not been announced as full support yet.

Mirantis makes no guarantees that Technology Preview features will graduate to generally available features.