RabbitMQ Support Lifecycle - Long Term Support (LTS) Versions

Products

• VMware Tanzu RabbitMQ

Issue/Introduction

This article clarifies the designation of Long-Term Support (LTS) versions for RabbitMQ to assist in planning the upgrade and support strategies.

Environment

RabbitMQ 3.13

RabbitMQ 4.2

Cause

Tanzu RabbitMQ designates specific releases as Long-Term Support (LTS) versions to provide extended stability and security updates for enterprise environments.

• RabbitMQ 3.13: Designated as an LTS version. It provides a stable foundation for organizations transitioning through the 3.x release line.
  
  
• RabbitMQ 4.2: Designated as an LTS version. This release includes significant architectural improvements, such as the redesigned distributed Shovel implementation and enhanced Raft handling for Quorum Queues.

Resolution

Why LTS versions have longer support than newer releases.

It is common for an LTS version (like 4.2) to have a longer "End of Commercial Support" date than a subsequent non-LTS minor release (like 4.3). This ensures that customers on the LTS branch have a predictable and extended support window without being forced to upgrade to every interim minor release.