LabKey products are provided via three types of regular releases. Releases are versioned with using year and month, plus a maintenance release number if applicable. For example, 24.3.5 was the 5th maintenance release for the March 2024 release.
Extended Support Releases (ESR)
LabKey ESR versions are released every four months. These releases are tested thoroughly and receive maintenance updates for approximately six months after initial release. ESRs are versioned using year and month, and end with .3.0, .7.0, or .11.0. Most production servers deploy ESRs. For example:
- 24.3.0 (March 2024 release)
- 24.7.0 (July 2024 release)
- 24.11.0 (November 2024 release).
Maintenance Releases
LabKey issues security and reliability fixes, plus minor enhancements, via periodic maintenance releases. ESRs are scheduled with maintenance releases, generally occurring weekly for approximately six months after initial release. Maintenance releases include a non-zero minor version, for example, 24.3.1, 24.7.4. Maintenance releases are cumulative; each includes all the fixes and enhancements included in all previous maintenance releases.
Find a link to the "latest" maintenance release for past ESRs in this topic:
Monthly Releases (Premium editions only)
For some Premium Edition users, including those using Sample Manager, LabKey LIMS, and Biologics LIMS, LabKey also provides monthly releases for months not released as an ESR. These are tested thoroughly (as with ESRs), but they
do not receive regular maintenance updates. In rare high priority cases, a one time maintenance release may be applied to a monthly release. Those deploying monthly releases must upgrade every month to ensure they stay current with all security and reliability fixes. Monthly releases are versioned with year and month, and end in .0. For example:
- 24.1.0 in January 2024
- 24.4.0 in April
- etc.
Production Deployments and Upgrades
We strongly recommend that every production deployment stays updated with the most recent maintenance or monthly release. Upgrading regularly ensures that you are operating with all the latest security, reliability, and performance fixes, and provides access to the latest set of LabKey capabilities. LabKey Server contains a reliable, automated system that ensures a straightforward upgrade process.
Recognizing that some organizations can't upgrade immediately after every LabKey ESR or monthly, upgrades can be skipped for a limited time:
- Every release can directly upgrade every release from that year and the previous year. For example, 23.2 through 24.1 can upgrade servers running any 22.x or previous 23.x release. That provides an upgrade window of 13 - 24 months. Any earlier release (21.x or before) will not be able to upgrade directly to 23.2 or later.
This upgrade policy provides flexibility for LabKey clients and the product team. Having a window of support for upgrade scenarios allows us to retire old migration code, streamline SQL scripts, and focus testing on the most common upgrade scenarios.
ESR Upgrade Table
The table below shows each ESR and which ESRs can upgrade to it. To perform any upgrade from an older version, one or more intermediate upgrades will be required. Use this table to plan your upgades. Note that for any ESR, we assume that you are consistently upgrading to each maintenance release available. Only the "year.month" portion of the ESR is shown in this table.
| ESRs | Can upgrade from these ESRs |
|---|
| 25.11 | 24.3 - 25.7 |
| 25.7 | 24.3 - 25.3 |
| 25.3 | 24.3 - 24.11 |
| 24.11 | 23.3 - 24.7 |
| 24.7 | 23.3 - 24.3 |
| 24.3 | 23.3 - 23.11 |
| 23.11 | 22.3 - 23.7 |
| 23.7 | 22.3 - 23.3 |
| 23.3 | 22.3 - 22.11 |
| 22.11 | 21.3 - 22.7 |
| 22.7 | 21.3 - 22.3 |
| 22.3 | 21.3 - 21.11 |
| 21.11 | 19.2 - 21.7 |
| 21.7 | 19.1 - 21.3 |
| 21.3 | 19.1 - 20.11 |
| 20.11 | 19.1 - 20.7 |
For older releases, see the first two columns of
the upgrade table from releases using the previous policy below.
Detailed Release Upgrade Tables
The table below shows the upgrade scenarios supported by past and upcoming releases:
| Releases | Can Upgrade From These Releases |
|---|
| 25.2.0 - 26.1.0 | 24.1.0 and later |
| 24.2.0 - 25.1.0 | 23.1.0 and later |
| 23.2.0 - 24.1.0 | 22.1.0 and later |
| 22.2.0 - 23.1.0 | 21.1.0 and later |
| 21.11.0 - 22.1.0 | 19.2.0 and later |
| 21.7.x | 19.1.0 and later |
| 21.3.x | 19.1.0 and later |
| 20.11.x | 19.1.0 and later |
For older releases, see the first two columns of
the upgrade table from releases using the previous policy below.
Older Release Upgrade Table
The table below shows the upgrade scenarios supported by past releases that followed our previous upgrade policy:
| ESR (Production Release) | Can Upgrade From These ESRs | Can Upgrade From These Monthly Releases and Snapshot Builds |
|---|
| 20.7.x | 18.1 - 20.3.x | 19.1.0 and later |
| 20.3.x | 17.3 - 19.3.x | 19.1.0 and later |
| 19.3.x | 17.2 - 19.2.x | 19.1.0 and later |
| 19.2.x | 17.1 - 19.1.x | 18.3.0 and later |
| 19.1.x | 16.3 - 18.3.x | 18.2 and later |
| 18.3.x | 16.2 - 18.2 | 18.1 and later |
| 18.2 | 16.1 - 18.1 | 17.3 and later |
| 18.1 | 15.3 - 17.3 | 17.2 and later |
| 17.3 | 15.2 - 17.2 | 17.1 and later |
| 17.2 | 15.1 - 17.1 | 16.3 and later |
| 17.1 | 14.3 - 16.3 | 16.2 and later |
| 16.3 | 14.2 - 16.2 | 16.1 and later |
| 16.2 | 14.1 - 16.1 | 15.3 and later |
| 16.1 | 13.3 - 15.3 | 15.2 and later |
| 15.3 | 13.2 - 15.2 | 15.1 and later |
| 15.2 | 13.1 - 15.1 | 14.3 and later |
| 15.1 | 12.3 - 14.3 | 14.2 and later |
| 14.3 | 12.2 - 14.2 | 14.1 and later |
| 14.2 | 12.1 - 14.1 | 13.3 and later |
| 14.1 | 11.3 - 13.3 | 13.2 and later |
| 13.3 | 11.2 - 13.2 | 13.1 and later |
| 13.2 | 11.1 - 13.1 | 12.3 and later |
| 13.1 | 10.3 - 12.3 | 12.2 and later |
| 12.3 | 10.2 - 12.2 | 12.1 and later |
| 12.2 | 10.1 - 12.1 | 11.3 and later |
| 12.1 | 9.3 - 11.3 | 11.2 and later |
| 11.3 | 9.2 - 11.2 | 11.1 and later |
| 11.2 | 9.1 - 11.1 | 10.3 and later |
| 11.1 | 8.3 - 10.3 | 10.2 and later |
| 10.3 | 8.2 - 10.2 | 10.1 and later |
If you have questions or concerns, please
contact LabKey for assistance.
Snapshot Builds (Not for production use)
LabKey also creates nightly snapshot builds primarily for developer use. These builds are produced nightly with whatever changed each day. They are not tested thoroughly and
should not be deployed to production servers. They are intended for internal LabKey testing, or for external developers who are running LabKey Server on their workstations and need to pick up one of these snapshots.
Upgrades of any snapshot builds are supported under
the same rules as outlined above.
Related Topics
