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Mar 4, 2026
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[pull] main from containerd:main #258

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release: update per 2026 proposal
samuelkarp Jan 27, 2026
d652014
Merge pull request #12830 from samuelkarp/release-changes-2026
samuelkarp Mar 3, 2026
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114 changes: 67 additions & 47 deletions RELEASES.md
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Expand Up @@ -41,16 +41,22 @@ done against that branch.

### Release Cadence

Minor releases are provided on a time basis with an initial cadence of 6 months.
The next two containerd releases should have a target release date scheduled based
on the current release cadence. Changes to the release cadence will not impact
releases which are already scheduled.
Since containerd v2.3 in April 2026, minor releases are provided on a time basis
with a cadence of 4 months. New minor releases are scheduled for April, August,
and December of each year. This cadence is synchronized with the Kubernetes
release schedule to ensure that new features in containerd can be smoothly
adopted by new Kubernetes releases.

The maintainers will maintain a roadmap and milestones for each release, however,
features may be pushed to accommodate the release timeline. If your issue or feature
is not present in the roadmap, please open a Github issue or leave a
comment requesting it be added to a milestone.

As part of synchronizing with the Kubernetes release schedule, containerd will
cut beta and release candidates that align with the Kubernetes release cycle.
This allows for end-to-end testing of new Kubernetes features with a compatible
containerd version before the final release of either project.

### Patch Releases

Patch releases are made directly from release branches and will be done as needed
Expand All @@ -77,24 +83,27 @@ by `<major>.<minor>`. Release branches will be in one of several states:
- __*LTS*__: The release is a long term stable branch which is currently supported and accepting patches.
- __*End of Life*__: The release branch is no longer supported and no new patches will be accepted.

Releases will be supported at least one year after a _minor_ release. This means that
we will accept bug reports and backports to release branches until the end of
life date. If no new _minor_ release has been made, that release will be
considered supported until 6 months after the next _minor_ is released or one year,
whichever is longer. Additionally, releases may have an extended security support
period after the end of the active period to accept security backports. This
timeframe will be decided by maintainers before the end of the active status.

Long term stable (_LTS_) releases are owned by at least two maintainers for at least two
years after their initial _minor_ (x.y.0) release. The maintainers of the _LTS_ branch may commit to
a longer period or extend the support period as needed. These branches will accept bug reports and
backports until the end of life date. They may also accept a wider range of patches than non-_LTS_
releases to support the longer term maintainability of the branch, including library dependency,
toolchain (including Go) and other version updates which are needed to ensure each release is built
with fully supported dependencies. Feature backports are up to the discretion of the maintainers who
own the branch but should be rejected by default. There is no defined limit to the number of _LTS_
branches and any branch may become an _LTS_ branch after its initial release. There is no guarantee
that a new _LTS_ branch will be designated before existing _LTS_ branches reach their end of life.
Regular (non-LTS) releases will be supported for 8 months after a _minor_
release. This means that we will accept bug reports and backports to these
release branches until the end of life date. Additionally, releases may have an
extended security support period after the end of the active period to accept
security backports. This timeframe will be decided by maintainers before the end
of the active status.

One release per year will be designated a Long Term Stable (_LTS_) release. LTS
releases are supported for at least two years after their initial _minor_
(x.y.0) release. The maintainers of the _LTS_ branch may commit to a longer period
or extend the support period as needed. These branches will accept bug reports and
backports until the end of life date. They may also accept a wider range of
patches than non-_LTS_ releases to support the longer term maintainability of the
branch, including library dependency, toolchain (including Go) and other version
updates which are needed to ensure each release is built with fully supported
dependencies. Feature backports are up to the discretion of the maintainers who
own the branch but should be rejected by default.

This combination of regular and LTS releases allows users to choose between
adopting new features more quickly or prioritizing stability and longer support
lifecycles.

### Release Owners

Expand All @@ -116,23 +125,23 @@ to all committers.

### Current State of containerd Releases

| Release | Status | Start | End of Life | Owners |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------ | ---------------------- |
| [0.0](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/0.0.5) | End of Life | Dec 4, 2015 | - | |
| [0.1](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v0.1.0) | End of Life | Mar 21, 2016 | - | |
| [0.2](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/tree/v0.2.x) | End of Life | Apr 21, 2016 | December 5, 2017 | |
| [1.0](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.0.3) | End of Life | December 5, 2017 | December 5, 2018 | |
| [1.1](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.1.8) | End of Life | April 23, 2018 | October 23, 2019 | |
| [1.2](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.2.13) | End of Life | October 24, 2018 | October 15, 2020 | |
| [1.3](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.3.10) | End of Life | September 26, 2019 | March 4, 2021 | |
| [1.4](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.4.13) | End of Life | August 17, 2020 | March 3, 2022 | |
| [1.5](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.5.18) | End of Life | May 3, 2021 | February 28, 2023 | |
| [1.6](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.6.39) | End of Life | February 15, 2022 | August 23, 2025 | @containerd/committers |
| [1.7](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.7.0) | LTS | March 10, 2023 | September 2026* | @containerd/committers |
| [2.0](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.0.7) | End of Life | November 5, 2024 | November 7, 2025 | @containerd/committers |
| [2.1](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.1.0) | Active | May 7, 2025 | May 5, 2026 | @containerd/committers |
| [2.2](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.2.0) | Active | November 5, 2025 | November 6, 2026 | @containerd/committers |
| [2.3](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/milestone/50) | _Future_ | May 6, 2026 (_tentative_) | _TBD_ | _TBD_ |
| Release | Status | Start | End of Life | Owners |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------ | ---------------------- |
| [0.0](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/0.0.5) | End of Life | Dec 4, 2015 | - | |
| [0.1](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v0.1.0) | End of Life | Mar 21, 2016 | - | |
| [0.2](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/tree/v0.2.x) | End of Life | Apr 21, 2016 | December 5, 2017 | |
| [1.0](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.0.3) | End of Life | December 5, 2017 | December 5, 2018 | |
| [1.1](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.1.8) | End of Life | April 23, 2018 | October 23, 2019 | |
| [1.2](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.2.13) | End of Life | October 24, 2018 | October 15, 2020 | |
| [1.3](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.3.10) | End of Life | September 26, 2019 | March 4, 2021 | |
| [1.4](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.4.13) | End of Life | August 17, 2020 | March 3, 2022 | |
| [1.5](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.5.18) | End of Life | May 3, 2021 | February 28, 2023 | |
| [1.6](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.6.39) | End of Life | February 15, 2022 | August 23, 2025 | @containerd/committers |
| [1.7](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.7.0) | LTS | March 10, 2023 | September 2026* | @containerd/committers |
| [2.0](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.0.7) | End of Life | November 5, 2024 | November 7, 2025 | @containerd/committers |
| [2.1](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.1.0) | Active | May 7, 2025 | May 5, 2026 | @containerd/committers |
| [2.2](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.2.0) | Active | November 5, 2025 | November 6, 2026 | @containerd/committers |
| [2.3](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/milestone/50) | LTS (_future_) | April 27, 2026 (_tentative_) | April 27, 2028 (_tentative_) | @containerd/committers |

\* Support for the 1.7 release branch is provided by @containerd/committers until March 10, 2026. Extended support through September 2026 is provided by @chrishenzie and @samuelkarp.

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -174,7 +183,10 @@ Backports in containerd are community driven. As maintainers, we'll try to
ensure that sensible bugfixes make it into _active_ release, but our main focus
will be features for the next _minor_ or _major_ release. For the most part,
this process is straightforward, and we are here to help make it as smooth as
possible.
possible. An exception to the general policy of primarily backporting bugfixes
is for new deprecation warnings. To ensure users have adequate time to respond
to upcoming breaking changes, new deprecation warnings may be backported to any
supported release, including LTS releases.

If there are important fixes that need to be backported, please let us know in
one of three ways:
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -243,13 +255,15 @@ release branch should you open a PR with new code.

### Upgrade Path

The upgrade path for containerd is such that the 0.0.x patch releases are
always backward compatible with its major and minor version. Minor (0.x.0)
version will always be compatible with the previous minor release. i.e. 1.2.0
is backwards compatible with 1.1.0 and 1.1.0 is compatible with 1.0.0. There is
no compatibility guarantees for upgrades that span multiple, _minor_ releases.
For example, 1.0.0 to 1.2.0 is not supported. One should first upgrade to 1.1,
then 1.2.
Upgrades are supported for sequential minor releases. For example, an upgrade
from 2.0 to 2.1 is supported, but an upgrade from 2.0 to 2.2 is not. Patch
releases are always backward compatible with their minor version.

In addition to sequential minor release upgrades, direct upgrades between
sequential LTS (Long Term Stable) releases are also supported. For example, a
direct upgrade from 1.7 (LTS) to 2.3 (LTS) will be tested and supported, but 1.7
(LTS) to 2.6 (LTS, tentatively) will not. This allows users who prefer to stay
on LTS releases to have a clear and safe upgrade path.

There are no compatibility guarantees with upgrades to _major_ versions. For 2.0, migration was
added to ensure upgrading from 1.6 or 1.7 to 2.0 is easy. The latest releases of 1.6 and 1.7 provide
Expand All @@ -259,6 +273,12 @@ warnings are showing up, the configuration can be safely migrated in 1.6 or 1.7
check the release notes, breaking changes are listed there, and test your configuration before
upgrading.

Features can only be removed in a release that immediately follows an LTS
release. Before upgrading, especially across multiple minor versions or to a new
LTS release, users should ensure that they have addressed any deprecation
warnings from their current version. This practice ensures a smoother transition
and avoids issues with removed features.

## Public API Stability

The following table provides an overview of the components covered by
Expand Down
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