OPNsense Forum

English Forums => 24.1 Production Series => Topic started by: franco on January 28, 2016, 06:36:18 am

Title: Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
Post by: franco on January 28, 2016, 06:36:18 am
Good day everyone,

TLDR: While the stable release is being maintained each stable release also bundles a development version which can be accessed from the GUI using System: Firmware: Settings: Release type "Development". We encourage everyone who can spare a helping hand to review the development release with us to produce better community releases.

We're trying something new for 17.1 with regard to ongoing 17.1 development period during what is also known as the 16.1 production period (February 2016 - July 2016).

While the release version will continue with the known versioning scheme 16.1.x, the development version is made up of three different phases prior to becoming 17.1 (and 17.1.x after that):

Alpha (17.1.a): The first phase of development, which is carried out in the first 3 months of our development cycle. In this phase, larger reworks are carried out that may need a few weeks to stabilise and may not be suited for production environments just yet. A typical change would be a FreeBSD version switch or rework of a crucial subsystem like the configuration management backend (config.xml) or 16.1's captive portal switch. Basically anything that may remove or replace original code without backwards compatibility. We focus on achieving a seamless binary upgrade path, but do not provide official images.

Beta (17.1.b): The second phase of our development cycle, which may or may not be the middle two months depending on the alpha phase. In this phase, we look for wider testing and stabilisation. Bigger feature additions are still being done in this phase depending on roadmap progress and scope, but removals are kept to a minimum. Beta images may be provided publicly, by no means intended to be complete or flawless. This helps us to gather feedback early on topics that include installation or hardware compatibility.

Release Candidate (17.1.r): The third and last phase of our development cycle, which is carried out in the last month prior to the real release. In this phase, only small reworks and bugfixes are allowed. The translations are being frozen to enable translators to prepare the final release. Several image sets are provided in this phase. Everyone is encouraged to preview and/or run the next version in a production environment to make the actual release transition as smooth as humanly possible.

We are aware that this is nothing new and don't want anyone to think that. In fact, we're using this generally accepted system to provide more transparency for the upcoming version. Also note that these phases are meant as general guidelines and may be subject to change over time.

Questions? Just ask. :)


Cheers,
Franco
Title: Re: Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
Post by: Solaris17 on July 17, 2016, 10:57:17 pm
Is it possible to update to the RC series from the beta? The update function doesn't seem to pick it up but you can download the images. That is to say are the instructions posted here https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=917.msg10577#msg10577 safe to perform on BETA builds?
Title: Re: Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
Post by: franco on July 18, 2016, 09:15:16 am
Hi Solaris17,

RC1 didn't work because it had no "opnsense-devel" package, but in RC2 the package is there, upgrade is seamless just like the instructions say. :)


Cheers,
Franco
Title: Re: Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
Post by: TheForumTroll on December 24, 2021, 02:00:07 pm
I'm sorry if I'm missing something obvious here but I keep getting a update available (OPNsense 22.1.b3) but updating reinstalls OPNsense 22.1.b_141. Is this the same version or what is going on?

Code: [Select]
pkg-static opnsense-devel reinstalled: 22.1.b_141 -> 22.1.b_141
Title: Re: Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
Post by: madj42 on December 24, 2021, 08:45:17 pm
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm think I remember reading that the development version will always offer something to update to.  One question I have though is, is there an easy way to see on GitHub what changes are being offered with the update?
Title: Re: Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
Post by: franco on December 28, 2021, 11:03:43 am
22.1.b3 is the version for "all the packages" while 22.1.b_141 is the opnsense-devel version inside it. The updates loop on purpose to ease testing and once proper version tags are added to the community version in 22.1-RC1 this will not happen anymore.


Cheers,
Franco
Title: Re: Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
Post by: bimmerdriver on February 09, 2022, 07:16:51 pm
It would be great if the change log included a reference to the opnsense version so it would more obvious if it's new. Currently, there is no obvious way to know (at least not obvious to me). Lately, I've inadvertently reinstalled the same version several times.
Title: Re: Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
Post by: franco on February 09, 2022, 07:43:27 pm
Can you show a screenshot of what you mean? The number should be displayed in the header of the modal.


Cheers,
Franco
Title: Re: Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
Post by: phantomsfbw on May 27, 2022, 03:26:49 pm
Is Sensi expected to be broken in this developer version in its current state, as in there is a Phalcon error after installing the plugin?  Thanks for any insight.
Title: Re: Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
Post by: franco on June 02, 2022, 10:28:23 am
It's not expected but it isn't unlikely since we move the development version to use Phalcon 5 and Zenarmor team may not have updated their code accordingly just yet.


Cheers,
Franco