Cloudera Long Term Support Release FAQ's

What are we launching?

Cloudera is launching a Long Term Support policy and release cadence for our customers on CDP Private Cloud Base.

What exactly is Long Term Support Release?

With CDP Private Cloud Base 7.1.1 we released every 2 – 3 months to support upgrades from various older product versions. In August 2021 Cloudera released CDP PvC Base 7.1.7  and decided to make the release a Long-Term Support Release.

Cloudera’s Long Term Support Release will contain only the following

• Critical security bug fixes

• Critical bug fixes

• All other security bug fixes, whenever possible

We encourage our customers to keep with releases and avail the benefits of security fixes and bug fixes.

Every one to two years, Cloudera will decide to make one of the releases an LTSR. LTSR will be supported for a maximum of four years with service packs made available twice a year or every six months. All non feature bearing hotfix requests will be addressed through Cumulative Hotfix patches which will be released on a regular basis.

What is the difference between LTS Release vs a Feature Release?

LTSR stands for Long Term Support Release. This corresponds with the way we supported and maintained CDP Private Cloud Base releases. The Long-Term Support release is for systems which demand the highest levels of stability - updates during the support period contain fixes to identified problems and vulnerabilities.

Feature Release adds new features, API, functions or services to CDP Private Cloud Base on a regular cadence and are intended for customers wanting to utilize the latest features and capabilities of CDP Private Cloud Base without waiting for the next long term support release cycle. Service Packs are only provided on the LTS.

What is the support time for Long-Term Support Release and Feature Release?

What is Hotfix?

A Hotfix is created to address a specific customer reported issue, problem, or customer scenario. A Hotfix can address either a single issue or a multiple set of issues. Hotfixes are distributed only to those customers, partners, and organizations that Cloudera technical support personnel, product or engineering determine can benefit from the changes that are made to the code.

What is a Cumulative Hotfix?

A Cumulative Hotfix (CHF) is an update that contains all previous hotfixes to date. Additionally, a CHF contains fixes for issues that meet the criteria for hotfix acceptance. These criteria may include the availability of a workaround, the effect on the customer, the reproducibility of the problem, and the complexity of the code that must be changed. 

What is a Service Pack?

A service pack is a tested  set of all CHF, Hotfixes, security and CVE updates, critical bug fixes, minor platform certifications and updates. Performance fixes, regression bug fixes and non-customer visible fixes will be included in a service pack. Service packs may also contain a limited number of customer-requested bug fixes that do not break backward compatibility or have API changes.

What is the support time for a service pack in Long-Term Support Release?

Support for a service pack ends as soon as the next service pack is released. All Cumulative Hotfixes will only be released on the latest service pack.

Which Release is Right for You?

Deciding if a Feature or Long Term Support release is right for you depends on the needs of your business. There is no one size fits all approach, but here are some questions to consider before adopting a release:

• What is your upgrade cadence? If you do major versions upgrades frequently, that is once a year, we recommend sticking to Feature releases. If you plan to upgrade once in 4 but in the meantime require bug fixes and security updates then Long Term Support releases may be a better choice.

• How complex is your instance? If upgrading your instance is fairly straight-forward and doesn’t require much planning then Feature releases may be right for you. If upgrading takes more planning - maybe you have many customizations, apps, and other requirements which mean more testing and coordination before an upgrade, then Long Term Support releases may be a better choice.

• How much do you value new features? If you want the latest features that are being shipped, then Feature releases are right for you. If you want the newest features from a platform release, but don’t need to quickly adopt the newest feature in a version, then Long Term Support releases may be a better fit.

Which release is a Long-Term Support Release?

LTSR Products and Versions