Valtix Release Policy¶
Release Versioning and Schedule¶
Release Versioning¶
Valtix release versioning is defined as X.Y-Z(-H) or X.Y.Z, where X is the major release (denoted by a calendar year), Y is the minor release (denoted by a calendar month), Z is the maintenance release (denoted by an integer starting at a value of 1), and H is a hot fix (denoted by a letter starting at a value of a followed by an integer starting at a value of 1).
Major Release¶
A major release is a release that contains major enhancements, stability improvements and bug fixes.
Minor Release¶
A minor release is a release that contains minor enhancements, stability improvements and bug fixes.
Maintenance Release¶
A maintenance release is a frequent update release that contains stability improvements and bug fixes, and occasionally (although rare) enhancements. Subsequent maintenance releases contain cummulative enhancements within the context of the Major and Minor release.
Hot Fix Release¶
A hot fix release is a prioritized release that contains bug fixes that address an operational issue that impacts a small number of deployments (usually a single deployment).
Hot fixes are enhancements to the corresponding Major, Minor and Maintenance release. Each hot fix release does not contain cumulative enhancements across hot fix releases denoted by a letter (e.g., hot fix b does not contain enhancements from hot fix a). However, each hot fix release within a hot fix release letter, denoted by a number, will contain cumulative enhancements (e.g., hot fix a2 will contain enhancements from hot fix a1).
Release notes for each hot fix release will contain information on the specific enhancements beyond the Major, Minor and Maintenance release enhancements.
The hot fix release enhancements will eventually be rolled into a maintenance release. Upgrade to a hot fix release should only occur under the guidance of Valtix Support.
Release Schedule¶
Valtix will make every attempt to issue major or minor releases every three (2) months. Maintenance releases will occur periodically for each major or minor release per the End-of-Support and End-of-Life policy.
Release Life and Support¶
End-of-Life/Support Policy¶
The definitions and process for announcing and enforcing the life of a release from release date, through End-of-Support, to End-of-Life.
End-of-Support (EoS)¶
The last day after which a major or minor release, including all maintenance releases, will no longer be supported to troubleshoot or fix issues. No new maintenance releases will be issued. Valtix will assist in upgrading to a recommended major or minor, and maintenance release, determine if the issue is still present, and work towards providing a fix or workaround.
A major or minor release will be marked as End-of-Support 6 months from release date.
Announcements
- 1-month prior
- 1-week prior
- Day of
End-of-Life (EoL):¶
The last day after which a major or minor release, including any associated maintenance releases, will no longer be available to install. Valtix will assist in upgrading to a recommended major or minor, and maintenance release, determine if the issue is still present, and work towards providing a fix or workaround.
A major or minor release (and all maintenance releases) will be marked as End-of-Life 2 months after the major or minor release is marked End-of-Support.
Announcements
- 1-month prior
- 1-week prior
- Day of
Accelerated EoS/EoL¶
Valtix reserves the right to accelerate the End-of-Life and/or End-of-Support for a major or minor release (and all associated maintenance releases). Valtix will give notice to customers and assist with upgrading to a recommended release.
Announcements
- Defined on a case-by-case basis
Severity Levels¶
Severity 1 (SEV-1): Critical¶
- Business impactful
- Traffic through the Gateway is negatively impacted
- An immediate upgrade is required
Severity 2 (SEV-2): High¶
- Not business impactful
- Traffic through the Gateway is not negatively impacted
- The latest release has fixes that will reduce future risk
- A scheduled upgrade is recommended
Severity 3 (SEV-3): Normal¶
- Not business impactful
- Traffic through the Gateway is not negatively impacted
- An issue has been uncovered where a suitable workaround has been implemented
- The latest release has a fix
- A scheduled upgrade is recommended
Severity 4 (SEV-4): Low¶
- Not business impactful
- Common and regular updates (bug fixes, new features)
- An upgrade is available
Notices¶
New Releases Notice¶
Valtix Customer Support will send regular New Release Notice announcements for each new release (major, minor, maintenance) on the day of release, and announcements for releases that are End-of-Support or End-of-Life based on the corresponding policy announcement schedule (see above). The announcements will be sent to any contact in a customer organization who subscribe to notices.
Upgrade Notice¶
Valtix Customer Support will send Upgrade Notice announcements on releases that contain important fixes and advice on upgrading based on the severity level. These announcements will be sent to any contact in a customer organization who will benefit from the upgrade.
Advisory Notice¶
Valtix Customer Support will send Advisory Notice announcements to advise on security ruleset updates and release guidance. The announcements will be sent to any contact in a customer organization who subscribe to notices.
Outage Notice¶
Valtix Customer Support will send Outage Notice announcements to provide information on outages that could be disrupting performance or access to the Valtix Controller / UI. The announcements will be sent to any contact in a customer organization who subscribe to notices.
Notice Distribution List¶
New Release, Advisory and Outage notices will be sent to any customer who is listed by Valtix as a Technical Notification Contact. To subscribe to these announcements, please contact Valtix Customer Support and request to be added to the notice announcement distribution list.