Consul Enterprise offers a Long Term Support (LTS) release program. Learn about benefits and terms, including which versions receive extended support, for how long, and fix eligibility.
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# Long Term Support (LTS)
<EnterpriseAlert>
This program requires Consul Enterprise.
</EnterpriseAlert>
Consul Enterprise offers annual Long Term Support (LTS) releases starting with version v1.15. LTS releases maintain longer fix eligibility and support larger upgrade jumps.
This page describes the LTS program, its benefits for Enterprise users, and the support the program includes.
## Overview
Many Enterprise organizations want to minimize their operational risk by operating a maintained Consul version that is eligible for critical fixes and does not require frequent upgrades.
Annual Consul Enterprise LTS releases enable organizations to receive critical fixes without upgrading their major version more than once per year.
The following table lists the lifecycle for each existing LTS release, including expected end of maintenance (EOM).
| LTS release | Release date | Estimated EOM date |
| v1.15 Ent | Feb 23, 2023 | Feb 28, 2025 (v1.21 Ent release) |
## Release lifecycle
Consul Enterprise LTS releases are maintained for longer than other Consul releases,
as described in the following sections.
### Standard Term Support lifecycle
All major releases of Consul Enterprise and community edition receive _Standard Term Support_ (STS)
for approximately one year, per HashiCorp's
[Support Period Policy](https://support.hashicorp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021185113-Support-Period-and-End-of-Life-EOL-Policy).
With STS, each major release branch is maintained until it is
three (3) releases from the latest major release.
For example, Consul v1.14.x is maintained until the release of Consul v1.17.0.
### Long Term Support lifecycle
Starting with Consul Enterprise v1.15, the first major release of the calendar year
receives _Long Term Support_ (LTS) for approximately 2 years.
The first major release of the calendar year typically occurs in late February.
An LTS release is maintained until it is six (6) releases from the latest major release.
For example, Consul Enterprise v1.15.x is maintained until the release of Consul Enterprise v1.21.0.
During the LTS window, [eligible LTS fixes](#fix-eligibility) are provided through
a new minor release on the affected LTS release branch.
## Annual upgrade to next LTS release
We recommend upgrading your Consul LTS version once per year to the next LTS version
in order to receive the full benefit of LTS. This upgrade pattern ensures the
organization is always operating a maintained release with minimal upgrades.
Only Consul Enterprise LTS versions support direct upgrades to the next 3 major versions,
enabling direct upgrades from one LTS release to the subsequent LTS release.
For example, Consul Enterprise v1.15.x supports upgrading directly to Consul Enterprise v1.18.x.
Because Consul has 3 major version releases per year,
LTS enables you to catch up on a year's worth of Consul releases in a single upgrade.
STS releases of Consul support direct upgrades to the next 2 major versions,
as described in the [standard upgrade instructions](/consul/docs/upgrading/instructions).
Without LTS, catching up on a year's worth of releases requires two upgrades.
For example, upgrading from Consul Enterprise v1.14.x to Consul Enterprise v1.17.x
requires an intermediate upgrade to v1.15.x or v1.16.x.
## Fix eligibility
Eligibility for an LTS fix is subject to the following criteria:
- A non-security bug must be a Severity 1 (Urgent) or Severity 2 (High) issue
as defined in [HashiCorp Support's Severity Definitions](https://support.hashicorp.com/hc/en-us/articles/115011286028).
- A security bug (CVE) is considered eligible in accordance with
HashiCorp's standard practices for security bugs on supported products.
Refer to the standard
[Support Period Policy](https://support.hashicorp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021185113-Support-Period-and-End-of-Life-EOL-Policy)
for more information.
- The bug must be present in built artifacts intended for use in production
created from one of the following HashiCorp repositories:
- hashicorp/consul-enterprise
- hashicorp/consul-k8s
- hashicorp/consul-dataplane
- The bug must be applicable for at least one of the following
computer architecture and operating system combinations:
- linux_386
- linux_amd64
- linux_arm
- linux_arm64
- windows_386
- windows_amd64
Eligibility for a fix does not guarantee that a fix will be issued.
For example, some fixes may not be technically possible on a given release branch,
or they may present an undue burden or risk relative to the benefit of the fix.
HashiCorp may, in its sole discretion, include fixes in a minor release
on an LTS release branch that do not meet the eligibility criteria above.
## Version compatibility with dependencies
Consul integrates with Envoy and Kubernetes releases that are maintained for less time
than Consul Enterprise LTS.
HashiCorp will make a reasonable effort to keep each Consul Enterprise LTS release branch
compatible with a maintained release branch of Envoy and Kubernetes until the LTS release branch
approaches its end of maintenance.
For more details on LTS version compatibility with dependencies, refer to the following topics:
- [Kubernetes version compatibility with Consul](/consul/docs/k8s/compatibility)
- [Envoy and Consul dataplane version compatibility with Consul](/consul/docs/connect/proxies/envoy)
