Product Versions and the Release Process

Overview

To make decisions about updating your server, you must understand cPanel & WHM’s versions and releases.

Version numbers

A cPanel & WHM version number consists of three or four incremented integer values. Periods (.) separate each value.

This version number contains the following parts:

Parent Value

The parent value is from our previous version numbering system and indicates a large group of major versions.

• We deprecated this part of our numbering system in cPanel & WHM version 11.52.
• In most cases, this value is optional.

You will usually only see this in configuration files, API function output, and RPM files.

Major Value

Each major value indicates a new set of features. We often refer to the builds in this as a release or the major version.

• Odd major values are development releases that appear on the EDGE release tier. For more information, read the LTS section below.
• Even major values are production releases that appear in all release tiers.

Minor Value

The minor value indicates sets of bug fixes and changes that stabilize the features in the major value version.

• Initial builds of a production release use a minor value of 0.
• Later publications of the production release increment the build value.

Build Value

The build value indicates a unique build of cPanel & WHM.

Releases

We release versions of cPanel & WHM across several architectures. We also may publish several versions across different tiers on the same day.

The following table contains the most recent cPanel & WHM release versions:

Release tiers

We release cPanel & WHM through five publicly-available tiers. This allows server owners to select their preferred update frequency as we develop and publish new versions of cPanel & WHM.

• Use WHM’s Update Preferences interface (WHM >> Home >> Server Configuration > Update Preferences) to select a release tier.
• When a release of cPanel & WHM no longer exists in any tier and reaches End of Life (EOL), it becomes unsupported. Unsupported versions don’t receive security updates or bug fixes.
• When a version of cPanel & WHM is about to reach its EOL, you will receive an email notification about it. However, the releases are not EOL until the upcoming version reaches RELEASE tier.

You can choose from the following release tiers:

LTS

Use this tier to select a single cPanel & WHM version for the year during which cPanel, L.L.C. supports it. We only ship one LTS version per year.

• Over the lifespan of an LTS release, cPanel, L.L.C. will provide security and other critical updates. We won’t add new features to LTS releases unless they’re critical. We also provide updates for compatibility with later versions.
• Only one release each year qualifies for LTS. Other versions will only receive updates in the STABLE, RELEASE, CURRENT, or EDGE tiers.

LTS support

We follow these guidelines to provide LTS support:

• The lifespan of each release extends through March 31st of the following year.

• cPanel, L.L.C. may extend a version’s LTS period at our discretion.

• Development releases of cPanel & WHM do not qualify for LTS. We don’t use their publication dates to calculate an LTS version’s lifespan.

LTS updates for other applications

We provide LTS updates for the following applications:

Third-party applications

cPanel & WHM provides various third-party applications. For supported LTS releases, we provide critical updates for third-party applications. We may provide them as backported patches instead of upgrades.

EasyApache

cPanel, L.L.C. releases EasyApache separately from cPanel & WHM’s release schedule. We provide EasyApache updates for an LTS release until the LTS release reaches EOL.

• If the LTS version doesn’t meet EasyApache’s requirements, EasyApache will update. However, we can’t support that update.

• EasyApache uses the php.net supported versions timeline. RPMs for unsupported versions of PHP will remain on the cPanel, L.L.C. mirrors and servers. We will not provide any further updates.

cPAddons and WHM plugins

We release updates for cPAddons and WHM plugins throughout the LTS release’s lifetime.

STABLE

This version has undergone public exposure, testing, and verification. We publish this tier less often than RELEASE.

RELEASE

This version is feature-complete and we have tested it thoroughly. It contains all intended features and functionality. We publish this tier more often than STABLE.

CURRENT

This version has received verification and testing. We publish this tier more often than RELEASE.

• Some of this version’s features may still be in development.
• This tier represents the “Release Candidate” tier that other publication schedules use.

EDGE

This version has only received rudimentary testing. We publish this tier most often (up to several times per week).

• This version contains features that we plan to change further.
• This version may not include all features or official public documentation.

Production release process

We use the following process to develop and manage production releases:

1. We complete development and testing of the production release.

2. We publish the release to the development and EDGE tiers.

3. We publish the release to the CURRENT tier. At this point, we stop developing or publishing non-critical changes to those releases.

4. After the release enters the RELEASE tier, we assess any immediate maintenance needs.

5. After we resolve those maintenance needs, we publish to the STABLE and, annually, LTS tiers.