# The Release Process

This document explains the Rsyslog release process (Rsyslog being the code hosted on the main `rsyslog/rsyslog` Git repository).

Rsyslog manages its releases through a time-based model; a new Rsyslog minor version comes out every six weeks.

Tip

The meaning of “minor” comes from the Semantic Versioning strategy.

Each minor version sticks to the same very well-defined process where we start with a development period, followed by a maintenance period.

Note

This release process has been adopted as of Rsyslog 8.2, and all the “rules” explained in this document must be strictly followed as of Rsyslog 8.3.

## Development

The full development period lasts six weeks and is divided into two phases:

- Development: Four weeks to add new features and to enhance existing ones;
- Stabilisation: Two weeks to fix bugs, prepare the release, and wait for the whole Rsyslog ecosystem (third-party libraries, bundles, and projects using Rsyslog) to catch up.

During the development phase, any new feature can be reverted if it won’t be finished in time or if it won’t be stable enough to be included in the current final release.

See also

Help with configuring/using `Rsyslog`:

- Mailing list - best route for general questions
- GitHub: rsyslog source project - detailed questions, reporting issues that are believed to be bugs with `Rsyslog`
- Stack Exchange (View, Ask) - experimental support from rsyslog community

See also

Contributing to `Rsyslog`:

- Source project: rsyslog project README.
- Documentation: rsyslog-doc project README

Copyright 2008-2020 Rainer Gerhards (Großrinderfeld), and Others.