Engine Yard Technology Stack Update Policies

Read the sections below for more information.

Externally published stacks

The technical stacks published are:

Engine Yard Gentoo 2009 - based on a legacy version of the Gentoo operating system with many other stack components as described there (web server, app server, database, etc.).

Engine Yard Gentoo 12.11 - this update includes a rebase off Hardened Gentoo, which provides a more secure stack for your application environments; it is based off recent Gentoo, including Hardened Gentoo toolchain enhancements that provide mitigation against various exploit vectors and improve the security of all software within the distribution. For more information, see this doc.

Engine Yard Gentoo 16.06 - this update includes a rebase off Hardened Gentoo, which provides a more secure stack for your application environments; it is based off recent Gentoo, including Hardened Gentoo toolchain enhancements that provide mitigation against various exploit vectors and improve the security of all software within the distribution.

Internal tracking mechanisms

Internally Engine Yard tracks versions of tech stack components in categories including operating systems, interpreters, application and web servers, databases, caches and stores, frameworks, and more.

As new stable updates and bug fixes become available to the community, the Engine Yard Product and Project Managers review and determine the appropriate support and timeframe for release. Internal stack review meetings occur bi-weekly.

Product Managers also hold routine meetings with subject matter experts (internal developers, support team, and others in the community) to determine best practices and to help establish the desired product roadmap -- which drives the priorities of releases, including features and stack updates.

After the desired timeframe and priority has been established, then the Engineering team schedules the appropriate work (e.g., stack component ebuild, AMI, cookbook).

Stack update policy

Stack update policy is based on the technology stack that you are using in your application’s environment.

Deprecated GA tech stack

If you are using a tech stack in the deprecated GA state, you can expect limited feature updates. Stack updates are limited to security updates and major bug fixes only.

Current GA tech stack

New features, stack updates, and bug fixes are targeted to the current tech stacks in GA, and with the highest priority. Best practice is to use the current GA tech stack.

Futures: EA or LA tech stacks

If you are using a tech stack in the Early Access (EA) or Limited Access (LA) states, you can expect new features, stack updates, and bug fixes.

Important: Tech stacks in EA or LA are NOT intended for production environments.

Policy exceptions

Some unofficial stacks do exist; these are custom and are not guided by the policies stated here.

It is possible to encounter situations where Engine Yard must deviate from the policy defined here. In those cases, we will publish a Known Issue or Security Update describing the situation in the Engine Yard Developer Center News and Notes section.