# Determining the upgrade path

This section explains the principles to follow to determine whether you can perform the upgrade directly or must upgrade first to an intermediate version(s). To understand the principles, you must first understand the [release-cycle-model](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2025.2/server-update-and-maintenance/upgrade/release-cycle-model "mention").

To determine your upgrade path, consider the following principles:

* You can upgrade directly from a non-LTA version to another if there is no LTA version in your upgrade path.
* If there is at least one LTA version in your upgrade path, you must first upgrade to each intermediate LTA and then to your target version.
* When upgrading to an LTA version, you should directly upgrade to its latest patch.
* You can upgrade from the latest LTA version to the latest non-LTA version directly.
* If you’re migrating from an earlier patch version of an LTA, you can upgrade directly to the next LTA. You don’t need to install any intermediate patch versions.
* There is no LTA concept for SonarQube Community Build.

## Upgrade path examples <a href="#path-examples" id="path-examples"></a>

| **From version** | **To version** | **Upgrade path**                                       |
| ---------------- | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| 9.9 LTA          | 2025.1 LTA     | 9.9 LTA > 2025.1 LTA (direct)                          |
| 8.9              | 2025.1 LTA     | 8.9 LTA > 9.9 LTA > 2025.1 LTA (one intermediate step) |
| 2025.1 LTA       | 2025.3         | 2025.1 LTA > 2025.3 (direct)                           |
| 10.6             | 2025.1 LTA     | 10.6 > 2025.1 LTA (direct)                             |
| 10.6             | 2025.3         | 10.6 > 2025.1 LTA > 2025.3 (one intermediate step)     |

## Update path calculator

You can use our calculator to help determine your update path.

{% @sonar-embeds/upgrade-calculator fullWidth="false" %}