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Kong Gateway Enterprise Version Support
Kong adopts a structured approach to versioning its products.
Products follow a pattern of {MAJOR}.{MINOR}.{PATCH}.{ENTERPRISE_PATCH}.
The ENTERPRISE_PATCH segment identifies a sub-patch for Kong Gateway Enterprise based on Kong Gateway (OSS).
Versioning
For the purposes of this support document:
Release versioning
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Major Version means a version identified by the number to the left of the leftmost decimal point (X.y.z.a). For example, 2.1.3.0 indicates Major Version 2 and 1.3.0.4 indicates Major Version 1.
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Minor Version means a version identified by a change in the number in between the two leftmost decimal points (x.Y.z.a). For example, 2.1.3.0 indicates Minor Version 1 and 1.3.0.4 indicates Minor Version 3.
Patches
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Community Edition Patch means a patch identified by a change in the number to the left of the rightmost decimal point (x.y.Z.a). For example, Community/OSS version 2.8.3 indicates Release Version 2.8 with patch number 3 and 3.3.0 indicates Release version 3.0 with Patch number 0.
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Enterprise Patch Version means a version identified by a change in the number to the right of the rightmost decimal point (x.y.z.A). For example, 2.8.3.0 indicates Enterprise Release version 2.8 with Patch Version 3.0 and 3.3.2.1 indicates Enterprise Release Version 3.3 with patch number 2.1
Kong introduces major functionality and breaking changes by releasing a new major version. Major version releases happen rarely and are usually in response to changes in major industry trends, significant architectural changes or significant internal product innovation. There is no regular release cadence of major versions.
Kong aims to release a new minor version approximately every 12 weeks. Minor versions contain features and bug fixes. Minor versions are usually¹ backwards compatible within that major version sequence. Every minor version is supported for a period of 1 year from date of release. This is done by releasing patches that apply to each supported minor version. Customers are encouraged to keep their installations up to date by applying the patches appropriate to their installed version. All patches released by Kong are roll-up patches (for example, patch 1.5 for release version 3.3 includes all the fixes in patches 1.4, 1.3, 1.2, and 1.1).
¹Note: There can be exceptions to the versioning model. Due to backports, new features and breaking changes are possible at any version level, including patch versions. To avoid issues, do not upgrade to any new version automatically, and make sure to review all relevant changelog entries before manually upgrading your deployments.
Kong may designate a specific minor version as a Long-Term Support (LTS) version. Kong provides technical support for the LTS version on a given distribution for the duration of the distribution’s lifecycle, or for 3 years from LTS version release, whichever comes sooner. An LTS version is backwards compatible within its major version sequence. An LTS version receives all security fixes. Additionally, an LTS version may receive certain non-security patches at Kong’s discretion. At any time, there will be at least 1 active LTS Kong Gateway Enterprise version.
Sunset support
After the product hits the end of the support period, Kong will provide limited support to help the customer upgrade to a fully supported version of Kong Gateway Enterprise for up to an additional 12 month sunset period. Kong will not provide patches for software covered by this sunset period. If there is an issue that requires a patch during this period, the customer will need to upgrade to a newer Kong Gateway Enterprise version covered by active support.
Bug fix guidelines
Unfortunately, all software is susceptible to bugs. Kong seeks to remedy bugs through a structured protocol as follows:
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Serious security vulnerabilities are treated with the utmost priority. See here for our security vulnerability reporting and remedy process, including how to report a vulnerability.
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Bugs which result in production outages of Kong Gateway Enterprise or effective non-operation (such as catastrophic performance degradation) will be remedied through high priority bug fixes and provided in patch releases to the Latest Major/Minor Version Release of all currently supported Major Versions of the software and optionally ported to other versions at Kong’s discretion based on the severity and impact of the bug.
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Bugs which prevent the upgrade of a supported version of Kong Gateway Enterprise to a more recent supported version will be remedied through high priority bug fixes and provided in the Latest Major/Minor Version Release of all currently supported Major Versions of the software and optionally ported to other versions at Kong’s discretion based on the severity and impact of the bug.
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Other bugs as well as feature requests will be assessed for severity and fixes or enhancements applied to versions of Kong Gateway Enterprise at Kong’s discretion depending on the impact of the bug. Typically, these types of fixes and enhancements will only be applied to the most recent Minor Version in the most recent Major Version.
Customers with platinum or higher subscriptions may request fixes outside of the above and Kong will assess them at its sole discretion.
Supported versions
Kong supports the following versions of Kong Gateway Enterprise:
Older versions
These versions have reached the end of full support.
| Version | Released Date | End of Full Support | End of Sunset Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.7.x.x | 2021-12-16 | 2023-02-24 | 2024-08-24 |
| 2.6.x.x | 2021-10-14 | 2023-02-24 | 2024-08-24 |
| 2.5.x.x | 2021-08-03 | 2022-08-24 | 2023-08-24 |
| 2.4.x.x | 2021-05-18 | 2022-08-24 | 2023-08-24 |
| 2.3.x.x | 2021-02-11 | 2022-08-24 | 2023-08-24 |
| 2.2.x.x | 2020-11-17 | 2022-08-24 | 2023-08-24 |
| 2.1.x.x | 2020-08-25 | 2022-08-24 | 2023-08-24 |
| 1.5.x.x | 2020-04-10 | 2021-04-09 | 2022-04-09 |
| 1.3.x.x | 2019-11-05 | 2020-11-04 | 2021-11-04 |
| 0.36 | 2019-08-05 | 2020-08-04 | 2021-08-04 |
| 0.35 | 2019-05-16 | 2020-05-15 | 2020-11-15 |
| 0.34 | 2018-11-19 | 2019-11-18 | 2020-11-18 |
| 0.33 | 2018-07-11 | 2019-06-10 | 2020-06-10 |
| 0.32 | 2018-05-22 | 2019-05-21 | 2020-05-21 |
| 0.31 | 2018-03-13 | 2019-03-12 | 2020-03-12 |
| 0.30 | 2018-01-22 | 2019-01-21 | 2020-01-21 |
