.. _deprecated_versions:

************************
Deprecated Wazo versions
************************

General policy
==============

On January 1st of every year, Wazo/XiVO versions that are more than 4 years old will be considered
as deprecated.

Planned deprecation calendar:

+------------------+---------------------+
|  Date            | Deprecated versions |
+==================+=====================+
| 2017-01-01       | older than 13.01    |
+------------------+---------------------+
| 2018-01-01       | older than 14.01    |
+------------------+---------------------+
| 2019-01-01       | older than 15.01    |
+------------------+---------------------+
| 2020-01-01       | older than 16.01    |
+------------------+---------------------+
| 2021-01-01       | older than 17.01    |
+------------------+---------------------+


What does it mean to be in a deprecated version?
================================================

* A deprecated Wazo version does not have a supported upgrade path directly to the latest Wazo
  version. This means that running a straight ``wazo-upgrade`` is not guaranteed to succeed.
* Asking questions about a deprecated version (e.g. on the forum) will probably get the following
  answer: "get a newer version first, then come back and ask your question".
* Binaries (ISO images, CTI clients) for deprecated versions are not available for download.


Why are versions being deprecated?
==================================

* Hosting the binaries of older versions is costly and mostly useless: most people install the
  latest version of Wazo, and the very few cases where an old binary is needed is not worth the
  cost.
* Maintaining the upgrade machinery for older versions is time-consuming for developers: the more
  versions are supported by the upgrade, the more cases there are to handle; more cases make the
  code harder to read, understand and modify, bugs become more probable and the latest upgrades are
  more difficult to write.
* There are very few Wazo installed with older versions, as far as we can tell: all software should
  be upgraded frequently and Wazo is no exception. We consider 4 years to be a reasonable time range
  to upgrade at least once an IPBX. We do not want to hinder development for the very few who did
  not take the time to upgrade.


I have a deprecated version. What are my options?
=================================================

There are two main options:

* upgrade to a Wazo version that is more recent, but not the latest: you can use the procedures
  listed in :ref:`archive-upgrade`.
* install a new server with the latest Wazo version, and reproduce your configuration by using the
  export/import features of Wazo and copying files