---
title: "FreeBSD 13.3 Release Process"
sidenav: download
---

:localRel: 13.3
:localBranchStable: stable/13
:localBranchReleng: releng/13.3

include::shared/en/urls.adoc[]

= FreeBSD {localRel} Release Process

== Introduction

This is the release schedule for FreeBSD {localRel}. For more information about the release engineering process, please see the link:../../../releng/[Release Engineering] section of the web site.

General discussions about the pending release and known issues should be sent to the public mailto:FreeBSD-stable@FreeBSD.org[freebsd-stable] mailing list.
//link:{handbook}/glossary/#mfc-glossary[MFC] requests are no longer being accepted.

link:{handbook}glossary/#mfc-glossary[MFC] requests should be sent to link:mailto:re@FreeBSD.org[re@FreeBSD.org] following the link:https://wiki.freebsd.org/Releng/ChangeRequestGuidelines[Change Request Guidelines].

== Schedule

[.tblbasic]
[cols=",,,",options="header",]
|===
|Action |Expected |Actual |Description
|Initial release schedule announcement |- |20 December 2023 |Release Engineers send announcement email to developers with a rough schedule.
|Release schedule reminder |8 January 2024 |8 January 2024 |Release Engineers send reminder announcement e-mail to developers with updated schedule.
|Code slush begins |19 January 2024 |19 January 2024 |Release Engineers announce that all further commits to the {localBranchStable} branch will not require explicit approval, however new features should be avoided.
|{localBranchReleng} branch |2 February 2024 |2 February 2024 |{localBranchReleng} branch created; future release engineering proceeds on this branch.
|BETA1 builds begin |2 February 2024 |2 February 2024 |First beta test snapshot.
|BETA2 builds begin |9 February 2024 |9 February 2024 |Second beta test snapshot.
|BETA3 builds begin |16 February 2024 |16 February 2024 |Third beta test snapshot.
|RC1 builds begin |23 February 2024 |25 February 2024 |First release candidate.
|RELEASE builds begin |1 March 2024 |1 March 2024 |{localRel}-RELEASE builds begin.
|RELEASE announcement |5 March 2024 |5 March 2024 |{localRel}-RELEASE press release.
|Turn over to the secteam |- |24 March 2024 |{localBranchReleng} branch is handed over to the FreeBSD Security Officer Team in one or two weeks after the announcement.
|===

"*" indicates "as-needed" items.

== Additional Information

* link:../../../releng/[FreeBSD Release Engineering website]