Sitecore Versioning Policy

Sitecore's versioning policy is aligned with the wider software industry. Our definitions in these areas, including the notion of a feature release, an update, and a service pack are described here.

Sitecore encourages customers to use the latest releases and updates that contain functionality and features that they want to use in their solutions.

For releases prior to Sitecore 7.0, Sitecore has used 3 levels in the version number (e.g. 6.6.0).

Since the release of Sitecore 7.0, Sitecore has only used 2 levels in the version number of products and modules (7.0).

Since the release of Sitecore 8.2, Sitecore has used 3 levels in the version number of all assemblies. Each assembly follows its own version path in accordance with Semantic Versioning and is thus not aligned with the version number of the product or module. A complete list of all assemblies and their version numbers is distributed with each release.

A feature release adds significant functionality to a product.

Sitecore encourages customers to use new feature releases when they have projects which require the functionality that is added in a release.

Sitecore names feature releases with a unique 2 level version number, the label Initial Release, and a revision.

For example: Sitecore Experience Platform 8.0 Initial Release (rev. 141212).

An update resolves a set of issues associated with a specific product version.

Sitecore encourages customers to install updates when the update includes fixes for specific issues that impact their solution. It's important to note that updates are cumulative — Update 2 of a version contains everything that was in Update 1.

Sitecore names updates with a 2 level version number that matches the corresponding feature release, a label that specifies the update number, and a revision.

For example: Sitecore Experience Platform 8.0 Update-3 (rev. 150427).

Sitecore promotes a limited number of update packages to the status of service pack.

Sitecore encourages customers to install service packs for any feature release that the customer has installed.

Sitecore names updates with a 2 level version number that matches the corresponding feature release, label that specifies the service pack number, and a revision that matches the revision of the original update. It's important to note that service packs for a given version contain everything that was in the updates that preceded it.

For example: Sitecore 7.2 Service Pack-1 (rev. 141226, originally released as 7.2 Update-3).

Solutions that have already been upgraded to the original update package, that has later been promoted to the status of Service Pack, will not benefit from being updated again with the service pack.

Sitecore may provide individual customers with a hotfix or a patch to resolve a single issue or a small number of issues in a Sitecore product.

In Sitecore, hotfixes and patches are different:

	Hotfix	Patch
Delivery estimate	Within 4 weeks	Within 1 week
Testing cycle	Undergoes the full quality assurance cycle	Does not undergo the full quality assurance cycle; it is recommended to perform local testing before deploying to production
Public availability timeline	Released in a public update within 1-6 months	Undefined
Naming example	SC Hotfix 156031-1 CMS.Core 10.0.4 Sitecore CMS 8.1 rev. 151207 Hotfix 148802-1	SC Patch 162512-1 CMS.Core 10.0.5 Sitecore.Support.141780-8.2.2.0 Sitecore.Support.378164

To resolve issues that are identified as bugs in the product, Sitecore Support will work with the customer to determine the best way to address the issue.

Customers should only apply hotfixes or patches to address specific issues that they are experiencing.

Before applying a patch or a hotfix, customers should confirm with Sitecore Support its compatibility with their Sitecore version, as well as any other installed patches or hotfixes.

Description

Feature Release

Update

Service Pack

Hotfix and Patch