Stack update and removal policy

Stacks on bitrise.io are generally updated every weekend, but what’s updated depends on the stack. There are stacks where only certain caches are updated and there are stacks which are completely re-built every week. Check out our Stacks in our system reports Github site.

Xcode stacks ⚓

We use two types of Xcode stacks; Stable stacks and Edge stacks.

Xcode Stable stacks are built once, and are not updated at all (except with Bitrise CLI related updates, dependency manager cache updates and with critical fixes). These stacks are designed so that if a build worked on the stack, the same build should run the same way as long as the stack is available.
Xcode “Edge” stack is re-built every week. It includes the latest release of Xcode, the same pre-installed tools as on the Stable stack, and the dependency manager cache updates. The stack uses the same scripts we use for creating new Xcode stacks.

Pinning an Xcode version

Whenever a new Xcode version comes out, our aim is to provide it to our users as soon as possible. But we do not update existing stable stacks with a new Xcode version as that could potentially break builds: instead, we provide a new stack with the new version, and keep maintaining the older versions.

As such, if your app’s current stable stack works well for your needs, you don’t have to do anything at all when a newer version comes out: you can keep using the previous Xcode version.

The only instance when you’re potentially forced to take action is when older Xcode stacks are removed. This does not happen without advance warning; check out our deprecation and removal policy to be prepared.

About dependency manager cache updates ⚓

All of the macOS stacks receive a dependency manager cache update (brew, cocoapods and bitrise CLI) every week. These cache updates do not change the pre-installed tool versions, they only update the package manager caches for faster dependency installs.

For more information on what else we use for provisioning the macOS VMs, head over to the weekly cache update Ansible playbook on GitHub.

Android / Linux (Docker) stacks ⚓

The Android / Linux stacks are prepared with docker, using multiple separate docker images, built on top of each other. You can find these docker images on GitHub.

The Android & Docker, on Ubuntu stack is a rolling release stack, rebuilt automatically from a base Ubuntu image.
The Android & Docker, on Ubuntu - LTS Stack image is a “frozen” version of a previous rolling release image, and is not updated at all (except with Bitrise CLI related updates and with critical fixes).

Hybrid (Visual Studio for Mac) stacks ⚓

Deprecated Xamarin Studio Stacks

Please note that Xamarin Studio stacks have been deprecated and replaced with the new Visual Studio for Mac stack. Make sure you switch to the Visual Studio for Mac one if you’ve been using the Xamarin Studio one before!

The Visual Studio for Mac stacks are built on top of the latest Stable Xcode stack, so the preinstalled building tools of the base Xcode stack are not updated and are the same as in the base Xcode stack. The Xamarin specific bits are applied on top of the base Xcode image every week when generating the Visual Studio for Mac stacks (using this Ansible playbook).

The dependency manager cache updates are applied on these stacks too. Visual Studio for Mac stacks are upgraded to the latest Visual Studio for Mac versions on every weekend.

This means that the Visual Studio for Mac stacks are hybrid stacks, built on a Stable base Xcode stack, but applying certain Visual Studio for Mac and Xamarin specific bits and updates every week.

Deprecating and removing stacks ⚓

Xcode Stacks ⚓

We keep the latest patch version of every minor Xcode version as long as that Xcode version is the latest major version.

In addition, we keep the very last minor+patch version of the previous two major Xcode versions

Example for maintaining Xcode stacks

When the latest Xcode version was 8.3.3 we kept:

All the latest patch releases for every minor version of Xcode 8:

8.3.x (8.3.3)
8.2.x (8.2.1)
8.1.x (8.1)
8.0.x (8.0)

And the latest versions from the previous two Xcode major versions:

7.3.1
6.4

We will carry this example through our guide to illustrate stack removal and deprecation processes below.

Deprecating and removing Xcode stacks ⚓

When the first beta of the next major Xcode version is released, we deprecate all the minor versions of the last major version, except the very last version.

Example for deprecating Xcode stacks when beta Xcode version is released

When Xcode 9 was released, we deprecated:

All the Xcode 8 stacks except the very last one (8.3.x).
The oldest major version (Xcode 6.4).

When the first final (non beta) version of the new major Xcode version is released, we remove the deprecated stacks; the oldest major version as well as the minor versions of the last major version except the latest minor version.

Example for removing stacks when final Xcode version is released

For example, when Xcode 9 (final, non beta) was released, we removed:

The oldest major version (the Xcode 6 (6.4) stack).
The minor versions of the last major version (Xcode 8.0, 8.1 and 8.2 stacks) except for the latest minor version (Xcode 8.3).

This means that the latest patch release version of Xcode is supported for about 2.5 years, in sync with Xcode major version releases.

Hybrid Stacks ⚓

Altogether we have 4 Hybrid stacks:

The Hybrid Visual Studio for Mac Stable and Hybrid Visual Studio for Mac Beta Stacks are updated every weekend with the current Visual Studio 4 Mac Stable and Beta releases.
The Hybrid stack, with both Android tools and Xcode 8 is affected by a long term support and deprecation policy, so it only gets the latest Bitrise CLI and critical updates.
The Previous Hybrid stack with Xamarin and vs4mac is kept on the previous version of Visual Studio for Mac.

So when a new version of Visual Studio for Mac (vs4mac) comes out:

The current vs4mac Stable becomes the Previous Hybrid stack with Xamarin and vs4mac.
The current Previous Hybrid stack with Xamarin and vs4mac gets deprecated.

This means that the Hybrid Visual Studio for Mac Stable is supported for about 1 year, in sync with the major Xcode version releases.

Android/Linux Stacks ⚓

The Android/Linux LTS stack is upgraded when we release the first non LTS stack update with a new Ubuntu LTS version.

Example for upgrading the Android/Linux LTS stack

The Android/Linux LTS stack was upgraded to the last version built on Ubuntu 16.04 when we released the first non LTS Android/Linux stack update built on Ubuntu 18.04.

This means that an Android/Linux LTS stack is supported for about 2 years, roughly in sync with Ubuntu LTS (long term support) releases.

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