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Development versions: Alpha, Beta and Release Candidate explained
franco:
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
Solaris17:
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?
franco:
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
TheForumTroll:
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: ---pkg-static opnsense-devel reinstalled: 22.1.b_141 -> 22.1.b_141
--- End code ---
madj42:
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?
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