Lifecycle policy
The Imply Product includes the Imply distribution of Apache Druid, Pivot, Clarity, Imply Manager, and associated artifacts included in the Imply product distribution. As of November 2020, Imply releases fall into one of two categories: Long Term Support (LTS) and Short Term Support (STS).
Imply Product Long Term Support (LTS) releases are complete, stable versions of our products. They are subject to general bug fixes for one year and to security bug fixes for two years after release, but do not receive new features or feature enhancements. They are best suited to production environments that require stable operation and do not require the latest features.
Releases that are not subject to long term support—that is, Short Term Support (STS) releases—include the latest features, including experimental features. STS releases occur on a regular basis. They are not subject to bug fixes, but may receive critical security patches. If using an STS release, you must upgrade to the latest monthly release to receive the latest bug fixes.
End-of-support dates
| Version | General support end | Security support end |
|---|---|---|
| 2023.01 LTS | January 25, 2024 | January 25, 2025 |
| 2022.01 LTS | January 31, 2023 | January 31, 2024 |
Legacy version end-of-support dates
| Version | Support end date |
|---|---|
| 2021.01 | January 26, 2023 |
| 4.x | January 26, 2022 |
| 3.x | October 12, 2021 |
More information
For more information, see the Imply moves to monthly releases blog.
Also see the previous policy at Terms and conditions for maintenance and support services.
Supported upgrade paths
STS to STS upgrades
For target version n, versions n-1, n-2, and n-3 are supported source versions.
In other words, you can upgrade to an STS release from any of the three preceding STS releases.
For example, if your target STS version is 2022.06, you can upgrade from any of the following releases: 2022.05, 2022.04, and 2022.03. If you're on a version that's older than the three most recent releases, upgrade to a supported version first and then to your target version.
The following example shows the upgrade path from 2022.01 to 2022.06:
- 2022.01 to 2022.04
- 2022.04 to 2022.06
LTS to LTS upgrades
LTS patch upgrades
You can upgrade to any LTS patch version that is released for that LTS. For example, you can upgrade to 2022.01.06 LTS from any earlier version of the 2022.01 LTS release train.
Upgrade to the next LTS
Upgrading to the next LTS release year from the previous LTS release year requires you to upgrade to the first LTS release of the target LTS release. Then, you can upgrade to a specific patch number.
The following example shows the upgrade path from the 2021.01 LTS release to the 2022.01 LTS release:
- 2021.01.13 to 2022.01.01
- 2022.01.01 to 2022.01.05
Switch between LTS and STS releases
Although you can switch between the two release types, certain conditions must be met based on your source and target release train.
LTS to STS release
To switch from an LTS release to an STS release, you can upgrade to an STS release of the same month. For example, you can switch from 2022.01.6 LTS to 2022.06 STS.
Another option is to continue to upgrade your LTS release and wait until January when the LTS and STS releases coincide.
STS to LTS release
Switching to LTS releases from STS releases can only be done in January when LTS and STS releases coincide. For example, this is the upgrade path if you are on 2022.08 STS:
- 2022.08 STS to 2022.11 STS
- 2022.11 STS to 2023.01 LTS