---
title: "FreeBSD 13.5 Release Process"
sidenav: download
---

= FreeBSD {localRel} Release Process
:localRelPrev: 13.4
:localRel: 13.5
:localBranchHead: head
:localBranchStable: stable/13
:localBranchReleng: releng/13.5
:localMailingList: stable

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-{localMailingList}@FreeBSD.org[freebsd-{localMailingList}] 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 |- |7 October 2024 |Release Engineers send announcement email to developers with a rough schedule.
|Release schedule reminder |13 January 2025 |10 January 2025 |Release Engineers send reminder announcement e-mail to developers with updated schedule.
|Code slush begins |24 January 2025 |24 January 2025 |Release Engineers announce that all further commits to the {localBranchStable} branch will not require explicit approval, however new features should be avoided.
|{localBranchReleng} branch |7 February 2025 |7 February 2025 |{localBranchReleng} branch created; future release engineering proceeds on this branch.
|BETA1 builds begin |7 February 2025 |7 February 2025 |First beta test snapshot.
|BETA2 builds begin |14 February 2025 |14 February 2025 |Second beta test snapshot.
|BETA3 builds begin |21 February 2025 |21 February 2025 |Third beta test snapshot.
|RC1 builds begin |28 February 2025 |28 February 2025 |First release candidate.
|RELEASE builds begin |7 March 2025 |7 March 2025 |{localRel}-RELEASE builds begin.
|RELEASE announcement |11 March 2025 |11 March 2025 |{localRel}-RELEASE press release.
|{localRelPrev} EoL |30 June 2025 |- |{localRelPrev}-RELEASE no longer supported.
|{localRel} EoL |30 April 2026 |- |{localRel}-RELEASE no longer supported.
|{localBranchStable} EoL |30 April 2026 |- |{localBranchStable} no longer supported.
|===

"*" indicates "as-needed" items.

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

== Additional Information

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