Salt version support lifecycle#

Together with the Supported operating systems guidelines, this document is intended to clearly define how long a particular version of Salt will receive official packages, testing, and technical support.

Salt runs on and manages many versions of Linux, Windows, Mac OS X and UNIX. However, Salt’s ability to run on a specific operating system depends on whether that operating system will run the salt-master service or the salt-minion service.

Salt uses the master-client model in which a master node issues commands to a client node and the client runs the command. In the Salt ecosystem, the Salt master is a node that is running the salt-master service. It issues commands to one or more Salt minions, which are nodes that are running the salt-minion service and that are registered with that particular Salt master.

Some operating systems might be able to run both the salt-master service and the salt-minion service, which means nodes running that system can both manage and be managed by Salt.

Other operating systems may only be able to run the salt-minion package and can only be managed by a Salt master running a different operating system.

If you are setting up your environment for the first time, you should install a Salt master on a dedicated management server or VM, and then install a Salt minion on each system that you want to manage using Salt.

Product support lifecycle#

Salt version Phase 1 support ends Phase 2 support ends Phase 3 support ends Extended life support ends
3005 Feb 25, 2023 Aug 25, 2023 Feb 25, 2024 Feb 25, 2025
3004 Apr 18, 2022 Oct 18, 2022 Apr 18, 2023 Apr 18, 2024
3003 Sep 30, 2021 Mar 31, 2022 Sep 30, 2022 Sep 30, 2023
3002 Apr 21, 2021 Oct 21, 2021 Apr 21, 2022 Apr 21, 2023
3001 Dec 31, 2020 Jun 30, 2021 Dec 31, 2021 Dec 31, 2022
3000 Aug 31, 2020 Feb 28, 2021 Aug 31, 2021 Aug 31, 2022
2019.2 Sep 30, 2019 Mar 31, 2020 Sep 30, 2020 Sep 30, 2021
2018.3 Oct 31, 2018 Apr 30, 2019 Oct 31, 2019 Oct 31, 2020
2017.7 Jan 31, 2018 Jun 30, 2018 Aug 30, 2019 Dec 31, 2019
2016.3 Nov 30, 2016 May 31, 2017 Nov 30, 2017 Nov 30, 2018
2015.8 Mar 31, 2016 Sep 30, 2016 Mar 31, 2017 Mar 31, 2018
2015.5 Nov 31, 2015 May 31, 2016 Nov 30, 2016 Nov 30, 2017
2014.7 May 31, 2015 Nov 30, 2015 May 31, 2016 May 31, 2017

Phase 1 support#

Regular point release support#

During phase 1:

  • The Salt Project will issue regular point releases with critical bug fixes.
  • Improved software functionality may be provided at the discretion of the project.
  • Point releases will include the content of previously released updates.
  • The focus of phase 1 releases will be high and critical bugs.

Phase 2 support#

On-demand support#

During phase 2:

  • The Salt Project may release point releases with bug fixes as requested by VMware customers.
  • Point releases will include the content of previously released updates.
  • The focus of phase 2 releases will be high or critical bugs.

Phase 3 support#

CVE support#

During phase 3:

  • The Salt Project will release point releases with fixes for selected, critical CVEs.
  • Fixes in newer branches will not be back ported.

Extended life support#

During extended life support:

  • The Salt Project will not release any point releases.
  • Users will still have access to any documentation.
  • The Salt Project will provide ongoing best-effort technical support for customers on existing installations.
  • No bug fixes, security fixes, improved functionality, or root-cause analysis will be provided.

Phase details#

  Phase 1 support (6 months) Phase 2 support (6 months) Phase 3 support (6 months) Extended life support (12 months)
Access to documentation Yes Yes Yes Yes
Technical support [1] Yes Yes Yes Yes (best effort)
Access to customer portal [2] Yes Yes Yes  
CVE fixes Yes Yes Yes  
Point release with bug fixes Yes Yes    
Software enhancements Yes      
[1]For VMware customers only.
[2]For VMware customers only.