---
title: "FreeBSD 13.4 Release Process"
sidenav: download
---

= FreeBSD {localRel} Release Process
:localRel: 13.4
:localBranchHead: head
:localBranchStable: stable/13
:localBranchReleng: releng/13.4

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

== 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 should be sent to link:mailto:re@FreeBSD.org[re@FreeBSD.org] following the link:https://wiki.freebsd.org/Releng/ChangeRequestGuidelines[Change Request Guidelines].

// link:{handbook}glossary/#mfc-glossary[MFC] requests are no longer being accepted for {localBranchReleng}.

// link:{handbook}glossary/#mfc-glossary[MFC] requests should be sent to re@FreeBSD.org.

== Schedule

[.tblbasic]
[cols=",,,",options="header",]
|===
|Action |Expected |Actual |Description
|Initial release schedule announcement |- |25 June 2024|Release Engineers send announcement email to developers with a rough schedule.
|Release schedule reminder |8 July 2024 |8 July 2024 |Release Engineers send reminder announcement e-mail to developers with updated schedule.
|Code slush begins |19 July 2024 |20 July 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 August 2024 |2 August 2024 |{localBranchReleng} branch created; future release engineering proceeds on this branch.
|BETA1 builds begin |2 August 2024 |2 August 2024 |First beta test snapshot.
|BETA2 builds begin |9 August 2024 |9 August 2024 |Second beta test snapshot.
|BETA3 builds begin |16 August 2024 |16 August 2024 |Third beta test snapshot.
|RC1 builds begin |23 August 2024 |23 August 2024 |First release candidate.
|RC2 builds begin |30 August 2024 |30 August 2024 |Second release candidate.
|RC3 builds begin |6 September 2024 |6 September 2024 |Third release candidate.
|RELEASE builds begin |[.line-through]*30 August 2024* +
13 September 2024 |13 September 2024 |{localRel}-RELEASE builds begin.
|RELEASE announcement |[.line-through]*3 September 2024* +
17 September 2024 |17 September 2024 |{localRel}-RELEASE press release.
|===

"*" indicates "as-needed" items.

////
== Status / TODO
link:todo/[FreeBSD Release Engineering TODO Page]
////

== Additional Information

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