---
title: "FreeBSD 14.0 Release Process"
sidenav: download
---

:localRel: 14.0
:localBranchHead: main
:localBranchStable: stable/14
:localBranchReleng: releng/14.0

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 for {localBranchReleng}.

//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

During the {localBranchHead} freeze, the Release Engineering Team may create ALPHA snapshots to publish for testing purposes. As the frequency and total number of the ALPHA snapshots will depend on the length of time the {localBranchHead} branch is frozen, no official schedule is provided.

Announcements regarding the availability of the ALPHA snapshots will be sent to the mailto:freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org[freebsd-current] and mailto:freebsd-snapshots@FreeBSD.org[freebsd-snapshots] mailing lists.

[.tblbasic]
[cols=",,,",options="header",]
|===
|Action |Expected |Actual |Description
|Initial release schedule announcement |- |26 June 2023 |Release Engineers send announcement email to developers with a rough schedule.
|Release schedule reminder |21 July 2023 |20 July 2023 |Release Engineers send reminder announcement e-mail to developers with updated schedule.
|Code slush begins / KBI freeze |4 August 2023 |3 August 2023 |Release Engineers announce that all further commits to the {localBranchHead} branch will not require explicit approval, however new features should be avoided. Additionally, there can be no changes to the KBI until {localBranchHead} is branched to {localBranchStable}.
|{localBranchStable} branch |25 August 2023 |24 August 2023 |{localBranchStable} branch created; release engineering continues on this branch.
|{localBranchReleng} branch |8 September 2023 |8 September 2023 |{localBranchReleng} branch created; future release engineering proceeds on this branch. Commits to this branch require explicit approval from the Release Engineers.
|BETA1 builds begin |8 September 2023 |8 September 2023 |First beta test snapshot.
|BETA2 builds begin |15 September 2023 |15 September 2023 |Second beta test snapshot.
|BETA3 builds begin |22 September 2023 |22 September 2023 |Third beta test snapshot.
|BETA4 builds begin |29 September 2023 |29 September 2023 |Fourth beta test snapshot.
|BETA5 builds begin |6 October 2023 |6 October 2023 |Fifth beta test snapshot.
|RC1 builds begin |13 October 2023 |13 October 2023 |First release candidate.
|RC2 builds begin |20 October 2023 |20 October 2023 |Second release candidate.
|RC3 builds begin |27 October 2023 |27 October 2023 |Third release candidate.
|RC4 builds begin |3 November 2023 |3 November 2023 |Fourth release candidate.
|RELEASE builds begin |10 November 2023 |10 November 2023 |{localRel}-RELEASE builds begin.
|RELEASE announcement |14 November 2023 |20 November 2023 |{localRel}-RELEASE press release.
|Turn over to the secteam |30 November 2023 |30 November 2023 |{localBranchReleng} branch is handed over to the FreeBSD Security Officer Team in one or two weeks after the announcement.
|===

"*" indicates "as-needed" items.

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

== Additional Information

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