Choosing a release

We use automated code tests, syntax tests, and unit tests to keep breaking changes out of the software. We also do manual code review. Bugs still get introduced. We also do major refactoring to improve the quality of the code base.

Two branches are available. The default branch is master.

Development branch

The master branch is the development branch. We commit to it often, and we merge several commits on most days. A change can therefore cause an unintended problem. When this happens, we usually fix or revert the change quickly.

We value everyone who runs this branch. These users are the second line of tests after the automated tests and the manual tests at the merge stage.

To use this branch, set the update channel. This branch is the default:

lnms config:set update_channel master

Then move to the master branch:

cd /opt/librenms
git checkout master
./daily.sh

Stable branch

We also supply a stable release each month. The release comes out near the middle of the month, usually on a weekday. Before the release, we stop the merge of pull requests other than bug fixes. The working branch is then clean at the release.

The changelog gives the release number and the release date. It shows every change since the last release.

To use the stable branch, set the update channel:

lnms config:set update_channel release

This setting pauses updates until the next stable release. LibreNMS then updates to that release. After that, LibreNMS updates only to stable releases.