---
title: "FreeBSD 15.1 Release Process"
sidenav: download
---

= FreeBSD {localRel} Release Process
:localRelPrev: 15.0
:localRel: 15.1
:localBranchHead: head
:localBranchStable: stable/15
:localBranchReleng: releng/15.1
: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 |- |15 January 2026 |Release Engineers send announcement email to developers with a rough schedule.
|Release schedule reminder |3 April 2026 |3 April 2026 |Release Engineers send reminder announcement e-mail to developers with updated schedule.
|Code slush begins |17 April 2026 |17 April 2026 |Release Engineers announce that all further commits to the {localBranchStable} branch will not require explicit approval, however new features should be avoided.
|{localBranchReleng} branch |1 May 2026 |- |{localBranchReleng} branch created; future release engineering proceeds on this branch.
|BETA1 builds begin |1 May 2026 |- |First beta test snapshot.
|BETA2 builds begin |8 May 2026 |- |Second beta test snapshot.
|BETA3 builds begin |15 May 2026 |- |Third beta test snapshot.
|RC1 builds begin |22 May 2026 |- |First release candidate.
|RELEASE builds begin |29 May 2026 |- |{localRel}-RELEASE builds begin.
|RELEASE announcement |2 June 2026 |- |{localRel}-RELEASE press release.
|{localRelPrev} EoL |30 September 2026 |- |{localRelPrev}-RELEASE no longer supported.
|{localRel} EoL |31 March 2027 |- |{localRel}-RELEASE no longer supported.
|{localBranchStable} EoL |31 December 2029 |- |{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]
