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. |