Introducing Long Term Support for vCluster Platform and vCluster

Today we are announcing our first Long Term Support (LTS) releases. vCluster Platform v4.12 and vCluster v.37 are supported together as LTS versions through April 15, 2028. LTS support applies when you run both. Platform v4.12 together with vCluster v0.37 is the LTS - this is due to the interconnectedness between the two.

Most software organizations release LTS versions, which are releases that get supported for a longer period than the rest. Once you are on one, you can stay there and keep receiving fixes and security updates without having to follow every new release. That stability is meaningful for many teams.

Why now

Many of our customers run vCluster in production with formal change management. For them a platform upgrade is a planned event with a review, a test cycle, and a maintenance window. No matter how smooth an upgrade is, it still takes effort. LTS is built for that way of working. Teams can qualify vCluster Platform v4.12 and vCluster v0.37 once and run them for 18 months with a clear end date.

Our regular release cadence stays as it is. It is the right choice for teams that want new features as soon as they ship. LTS is a second option alongside it. Both are built for production.

What is included

The LTS window is 18 months. It runs from October 15, 2026, to April 15, 2028, and it applies to both vCluster Platform v4.12 and vCluster v0.37.

The first 12 months are full support. That means bug fixes, security fixes, and backports from the development branch on request, including support for newer Kubernetes versions where you need it. Full support ends October 15, 2027.

The last 6 months are security support. You get critical security fixes. Security support ends April 15, 2028.

Two releases, one LTS

The Platform and the tenant clusters it manages are built and tested together. So the LTS is a pair. vCluster Platform v4.12 and vCluster v0.37 share the same dates and the same support. If you are on v4.12 LTS, stay on vCluster v0.37 for your tenant clusters. Moving to a newer vCluster release takes you off the LTS pair, so hold off until you are ready to move the Platform too.

What you should do

If you are already on vCluster Platform v4.12 and vCluster v0.37, nothing. You are on the LTS pair and the window is effective now.

If you are on an earlier release, plan an upgrade to v4.12 and v0.37. It is a normal minor upgrade, one version at a time, and your account team can help you schedule it.

LTS does not change how upgrades work. When you are ready to move on, you upgrade the same way you always have. The dates above are fixed and will not change, so you can plan against them now. When we designate the next LTS release, we will publish the upgrade path from v4.12 and v0.37 to it ahead of time.

Where to find more information

The full policy is on the lifecycle policy page. If you have questions about how LTS applies to your environment, reach out to your account team or contact us.

Thank you for building on vCluster.