Hello, Сommunity!
VyOS Stream 1.5-2025-Q1 and its corresponding source tarball are now available for download. You may remember our announcement a while ago, but let us reiterate what VyOS Stream is and how it benefits the project and its community.
In short, VyOS Stream is a snapshot of the new LTS release that we are working on. Since VyOS 1.4, we create the new LTS release branch from the previous LTS rather than from current. That allows us to start from a known-good state and avoid a lengthy stabilization process. Only features already tested in rolling and have taken their final shape are backported to the new LTS branch — to reduce the number of situations when features need to be radically reworked or removed from LTS releases.
Now, let me answer some common questions I have heard about VyOS Stream.
We will release VyOS Stream images roughly every quarter.
VyOS Stream is a quality gate for future LTS releases; therefore, producing images wasn't a priority.
Instead, we were focused on integrating Stream into the development process and our new build system pipeline, which can automatically produce corresponding source tarballs and binary images. It took longer than we initially estimated (what a surprise), but nevertheless, it's complete now, and we have an established process for producing both Stream and LTS releases.
First, it is a technology preview for users — to see what is coming in the new LTS release and try it out.
Second, it is a preview for developers to spot potential API breakage and update their scripts, tools, management and monitoring system integrations, and other things they might have made — or add support for new VyOS features to those projects.
Third, it is a quality gate — sometimes bugs can only be found by testing images in a life-like environment, especially regarding hardware compatibility and interoperability with other systems. VyOS Stream allows everyone to try features destined for the next LTS release and check if they work well or need improvements. To dispel any possible doubts — testing VyOS Stream image counts for our contributor subscription.
Since VyOS Stream is a preview of the next LTS, it must follow the same approach as LTS releases. For instance:
Thus, it is a safe bet that if something works for a VyOS Stream image, it will work the same way when it becomes an official LTS. If anything changes, there will be a deprecation warning. That should simplify planning deployments and maintaining projects like the Ansible module collection.
VyOS Stream is not a free-of-charge LTS release. We do not provide emergency bug fixes or security patches for it.
If a critical vulnerability is found, we will fix it in the rolling release branch and LTS releases as soon as possible and provide hotfix packages for customers. But Stream images with that fix may only come in the next quarter.
We only provide the generic ISO image; no additional flavors.
The VPP-based accelerated dataplane deserves special mention: it is not included in the VyOS Stream yet because its design and implementation are not considered stable enough and may change considerably. Thus, VPP will only be included in rolling release images for now.
If you need stable images with prompt fixes, you should get an LTS release through a subscription purchase or one of the no-cost subscriptions for those who qualify.