We strongly recommend that every installation runs the most recent production release of LabKey Server at all times. 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 results in a very easy upgrade process.

Recognizing that some organizations can't upgrade immediately after every LabKey production release, we've adopted the following upgrade policy:

• We support upgrading from production releases for two years after their initial release. For example, any installation running v14.3 (Nov, 2014 release) or later official releases should be able to upgrade to v17.1; earlier releases (v14.2 and before) will not be able to upgrade directly to v17.1.
• We especially discourage running "interim development builds" (builds from the development process that are not production releases) in any production environment. Interim builds are not fully tested and are sure to contain bugs and incomplete features; they should be upgraded to a production release ASAP. We try to support upgrading from interim development builds for two production releases. For example, v17.1 should be able to upgrade from any interim build created after the v16.2 production release.

This policy should easily accommodate all serious users of LabKey Server. Putting some minor limits on upgrade scenarios allows us to retire old migration code, streamline SQL scripts, and focus testing on the most common upgrade scenarios.

The table below shows the upgrade scenarios supported by past and future (*) releases of LabKey Server:

LabKey Release	Can Upgrade From These Official Releases	Can Upgrade From These Interim Releases
17.3*	15.2 and later	17.1 and later
17.2*	15.1 and later	16.3 and later
17.1	14.3 and later	16.2 and later
16.3	14.2 and later	16.1 and later
16.2	14.1 and later	15.3 and later
16.1	13.3 and later	15.2 and later
15.3	13.2 and later	15.1 and later
15.2	13.1 and later	14.3 and later
15.1	12.3 and later	14.2 and later
14.3	12.2 and later	14.1 and later
14.2	12.1 and later	13.3 and later
14.1	11.3 and later	13.2 and later
13.3	11.2 and later	13.1 and later
13.2	11.1 and later	12.3 and later
13.1	10.3 and later	12.2 and later
12.3	10.2 and later	12.1 and later
12.2	10.1 and later	11.3 and later
12.1	9.3 and later	11.2 and later
11.3	9.2 and later	11.1 and later
11.2	9.1 and later	10.3 and later
11.1	8.3 and later	10.2 and later
10.3	8.2 and later	10.1 and later

If you have questions or find that this policy causes a problem for you, please contact LabKey for assistance.