An understanding of the Unblu versioning scheme and its implications for the support life cycle is important for planning your own update schedule.
Versioning scheme
As of Unblu 5, Unblu versions comply with the Semantic Versioning specification. In this scheme, a version’s impact is usually measured with regard to the public API, often referred to as breaking changes.
The version numbers convey information about what has changed from one version to the next. Versions use a sequence of three digits--<major>.<minor>.<patch>(-<qualifier>)--to describe the impact of an update of the software. The meaning of the <major>.<minor>.<patch> version scheme is defined as follows:
-
A
<major>digit increment is used when incompatible API changes are introduced, -
A
<minor>digit increment is used when functionality is added in a backwards-compatible manner. -
A
<patch>digit increment is used for backwards-compatible bug fixes.
Release versions are sparse, for example the next public version after 5.1.6 might be 5.1.9.
When the version is updated with an increment of the <minor> digit, this is called a new minor version. Once a new minor version is publicly available, there will be no <patch> updates for earlier minor versions. For example, if the last minor version was 5.1.5, there will be no release version 5.1.6 once 5.2.0 has been released.
Feature statuses
Features and their related configuration and text properties, web API endpoints, webhooks, and JavaScript methods, enums, and interfaces can have one of three statuses:
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Preview
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Stable
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Deprecated
Unless stated otherwise, features and their configuration and text properties are stable. Stable configuration and text properties aren’t labeled.
Configuration and text properties with preview or deprecated status are labeled as such in the configuration and text property references, respectively.
Preview
Preview features are new features for you to try out. They may change or be removed in a future version without any notice. Substantial changes to preview features, such as renaming, modifying, or removing configuration properties, may occur in minor version updates of the product. You shouldn’t rely on them in production environments.
The status of a preview feature can change to either stable or deprecated. A preview feature may become a separately licensed feature when its status changes to stable.
Stable
Stable features adhere to the <major>.<minor>.<patch> version scheme. Changes to stable features in minor versions are backward compatible. If new configuration properties are introduced that replace old configuration properties, the old configuration properties will not adversely affect Unblu. Whether they affect Unblu at all varies from case to case.
The status of a stable feature can only change to deprecated.
Deprecated
Deprecated features are scheduled for removal from Unblu in the next major version. Configuration and text properties marked as Deprecated typically no longer affect Unblu.
Once a feature is deprecated, its status can’t change. The feature is simply removed from the next major version of Unblu.
Release life cycle
In addition to public releases, various internal releases exist during the development phase of a release stream.
- Development versions
-
Versions published before a feature freeze. Development versions are released in the early development phase. They’re versioned according to the following pattern:
<major>.<minor>.<patch>-alpha.<increment>, for example6.0.0-alpha.0,6.0.0-alpha.1 - Stabilization versions
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After feature freeze, Unblu may release stabilization versions prior to the first public version of a stream.
<major>.<minor>.<patch>-beta.<number>, for example6.0.0-beta.0,6.0.0-beta.1 - Hotfix versions
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If a customer needs a hotfix, the version uses the pattern
<major>.<minor>.<patch>-hotfix.<number>, for example5.1.3-hotfix.0,5.1.3-hotfix.1
Alpha and beta versions are only prepared for major releases, there is no 5.2.0-beta.0 version. |
The following diagram illustrates the Unblu release cycle:
Standard support life cycle
Unblu supports major versions of the product for 24 months after the first official release date of the superseding major version of the product. This holds true regardless of how many subsequent major releases were made after the respective release.
As outlined above, the versioning scheme introduces no breaking changes in minor versions or patch versions. Customers on the previous major version will therefore be asked to upgrade to the latest minor or patch release to address potential problems with the software.
An upgrade of a minor release or a patch release will never require a migration effort on your part.
Example
To illustrate the support life cycle, suppose a new major version, Unblu 10.0.0, is released on 1 May 2022. At that time, the major version being shipped is 9.8.13.
The release of Unblu 10.0.0 triggers the support period countdown for the preceding version. The standard support period for version 9.x.x will end on 1 May 2024.
Customers on version 9.x.x of the platform will be asked to continue to upgrade to the latest minor/patch release of the Unblu 9 release train to address any problems.
If Unblu 11.0.0 were released before 1 May 2024, this would trigger the standard support countdown for version 10.x.x. The support countdown for version 9.x.x, however, would not be affected. It would continue until 1 May 2024.
| Unblu 5.0 was a limited feature release. As a result, Unblu 5.1 replaced Unblu 4.3 and triggered the support life cycle countdown for version 4.x. |
Recent and upcoming life cycle events
| Version | Life cycle event | Date of event |
|---|---|---|
Unblu 4.3 |
End of support period |
7 March 2021 |
Unblu 5 |
End of support period |
22 November 2021 |
Unblu 6 |
End of support period |
29 August 2023 |
Unblu 7 |
Public availability |
30 August 2021 |
| Version | Life cycle event | Date of event |
|---|---|---|
SDK v2 |
End of support period |
22 November 2021 |
SDK v3 |
End of support period |
29 August 2023 |
Android SDK v4 |
Public availability |
4 October 2021 |
iOS SDK v4 |
Public availability |
14 October 2021 |
| Unblu mobile SDK v3 isn’t compatible with Unblu server v5. |
| Version | Life cycle event | Date of event |
|---|---|---|
1 |
End of support period |
30 August 2021 |
The release of Unblu 7 triggered the support countdown for the following products:
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Unblu Collaboration Server v6
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Unblu mobile SDK v3