docs/about/lts.rst

30   | 2025-03-27  | Chris Palmer       | Playbook for making a new release.                    |
87 This section approaches three questions: for how long should an LTS release be
91 1. For how long should an LTS release be supported?
102 Given that many products that have a release cycle, have a yearly release
107 TF-A releases are cut twice a year: May and November. Basing LTS release
108 on the November TF-A release has a few benefits. First, it aligns with Linux
111 releases are timed with Android release, this gives enough time to harden
112 the TF-A LTS release during development so that it's ready for launch in
113 Q3 following year. On the other hand, if the May release of TF-A is chosen as
116 before Android release.
118 To summarize, there will be one LTS release per year. It will be supported for
119 5 years and we can discuss extending it to 7 years later on. The LTS release
120 will be based on the November release of TF-A.
161 corresponding release version of CI scripts for LTS.
170 corresponding version from TF-A release for a LTS.
179 This section goes into details of what the LTS release process will look like.
185 testing and debugging will be done on the November release of TF-A. Therefore
186 it would make sense to leave at least a month after the November release and
189 TF-A release would result in a beginning-of-February LTS release. Note that
190 the LTS branch will be created at the same time as the TF-A November release,
193 ideally it coincides with TF-A November release which means that our test
198 Below is an example timeline starting from the November 2022 release of TF-A.
203   diagram, at the same time LTS release candidate branch is made which is based
215   isn’t as much to test and debug as an annual LTS release has. Also companies
272 To make a new minor release (e.g. 2.x.y → 2.x.y+1), follow these steps.
276    currently-supported LTS major release branch (e.g. lts-2.8, lts-2.10,
278    minor release of each supported LTS branch.
282    the v2.x.y release, and that it has the origin/lts-v2.x tag.
283 #. For the version 2.x for which you want to create a new release, open its CSV
307    trigger a Jenkins job that will take care of the release (tag, mail, and
323 Initial release steps
327 create the first LTS from the Nov’22 release.
329 #. Create a TF-A LTS release-candidate branch and a TFTF LTS branch immediately
330    after the Nov’22 release
334 #. Announce the official LTS release availability on the mailing lists
336 Long term release plan
389      described in the section “Long term release plan” above because