Apache Cassandra

apache database java-runtime

Apache Cassandra is a free and open-source, distributed, wide-column store, NoSQL database management system designed to handle large amounts of data across many commodity servers, providing high availability with no single point of failure.

Release Released Security Support Latest
4.1 1 year and 4 months ago
(13 Dec 2022)
Ends in 1 year and 2 months
(15 Jul 2025)
4.1.4
(14 Feb 2024)
4.0 2 years and 8 months ago
(26 Jul 2021)
Ends in 2 months and 3 weeks
(15 Jul 2024)
4.0.12
(23 Jan 2024)
3.11 6 years and 10 months ago
(23 Jun 2017)
Yes 3.11.17
(16 Apr 2024)
3.0 8 years ago
(09 Nov 2015)
Yes 3.0.30
(15 Apr 2024)

Three major GA releases (MAJOR and/or MINOR versions) are supported at any given time. The release of a new MINOR or MAJOR version will cause the oldest supported GA release to go End-of-Life. The 3.0 release will be supported for one more cycle, on an exceptional basis.

Versioning

Cassandra follows SemVer. These are the rough heuristics followed for what can be included in a given release.

  • Patch releases on a GA branch should only include bug fixes.
  • Minor versions contain new features and improvements, and are always compatible with all minor versions in the same and adjacent (next-to-next) major versions.
  • Disruptive changes (API changes, protocol changes, etc.) are deprecated in the next Major version. Deprecated APIs may then be removed in the next-next Major version.

As an always-on technology during major upgrades, Cassandra maintains compatibility across adjacent major versions. Cassandra does not break API compatibility without a deprecated grace period demarcated by major versions. Upgrades without downtime are supported from any major version to the next major version. Upgrades that skip a major version are not supported. For e.g. an upgrade from a 3.x version to a 5.x version is not supported. Only upgrades stepping through each major version (3.x -> 4.x -> 5.x) are supported.

Release Cadence

The project currently targets yearly major releases (can be a new major or minor version, depending on upgrade compatibility). Patch releases are cut based on either volume of fixes or severity of bugfixes that get committed to the project.

More information is available on the Apache Cassandra website.

You should be running one of the supported release numbers listed above in the rightmost column.


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