Determining the server upgrade path

This section explains SonarQube Server release cycle model and the principles to follow in order to determine if you can perform the upgrade directly or must upgrade first to intermediary version(s).

SonarQube Server release cycle model

A new version of SonarQube Server is released every two months, with a new Long-Term Active (LTA) version released every year. This means that there are six releases of SonarQube Server per year, including the LTA release at the beginning of each year. 

The latest release receives updates and patches. The latest LTA receives patches to fix vulnerabilities or blocker bugs until the next LTA is released.

SonarQube Server releases follow the YEAR.RELEASE.PATCH model as shown below.

Up to version 10.8 SonarQube Server followed the MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH semantic model as shown below.

Upgrade path determination principles

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.

Upgrade path examples

For more information on LTAs, see Active versions.