Release Policy#

OpenVINO offers releases of three different types, each targeting a different use case:

Regular releases
Long-Term Support
Nightly

Regular releases#

OpenVINO™ is published multiple times a year, when significant new features and bug fixes have been completed and validated. For each regular release, a dedicated development branch in GitHub is created, targeting changes such as:

New features of gold quality, as well as Beta features, labeled as “preview.”
Key bug fixes.
Newest hardware support.

Each regular release is supported until the next version arrives, making it suitable for:

Most typical use cases (the recommended release type).
Products requiring frequent changes in supported hardware, libraries, operating systems, and models.

Long-Term Support releases#

Each year’s final release becomes a Long-Term Support (LTS) version, which continues to receive bug fixes and security updates, even after newer versions are published. Therefore, LTS may be used for production environments where:

There is no need for frequent changes in hardware or model support.
New optimizations are not prioritized.
Upgrading is challenging, e.g., due to high software complexity.
A legacy feature, discontinued in newer OpenVINO versions, is still required.

LTS Lifecycle

LTS is typically published at the end of every year cycle.
LTS uses the branch of the last yearly regular release.
LTS aim to receive an update once a year.
Security updates are offered for the duration of the entire LTS period, which is two years (or until superseded by two consecutive LTS versions).
Updates targeting newly discovered bugs are offered for the period of one year.

Note

LTS releases may offer limited distribution options.

Components covered by LTS

Not all components associated with the OpenVINO™ toolkit are covered by the LTS policy. The following elements are not guaranteed to receive updates:

Components in the deprecation period.
Preview features (highlighted in the release notes).
Components not directly connected to the OpenVINO™ workflow, such as: Samples, demos, and Jupyter notebooks.
OpenVINO tools, such as NNCF and OVMS.
Code samples used in component testing.

Nightly releases#

OpenVINO nightly releases are the first source of newly added features and priority bug fixes reported for the previous versions, as a preview of the most recent changes. They are:

Released every workday.
Based on the master branch of the OpenVINO GitHub repository.
Not fit for production environments.
Offered with limited distribution options:

Since their validation scope is limited, they should never be used for production purposes. Instead, they may serve:

Early integration testing.
Community contribution development and integration.
Tracking development progress.

Downloadable Archives

Go to OpenVINO Nightly Packages.
Select a package you want to install.
Download the archive for your platform.
Unpack the archive in a convenient location.
Once unpacked, proceed as with a regular OpenVINO archive (see installation guides).

OV Wheels on S3

A PyPI repository deployed on AWS S3 (see more details) enables the use of regular PyPI without the need to rename wheels. Installation commands vary depending on the branch:

Master

pip install --pre openvino --extra-index-url
https://storage.openvinotoolkit.org/simple/wheels/nightly

Release

This command includes Release Candidates.
To use extra-index-url, you need to pass a link containing simple.
The --pre allows the installation of dev-builds.

pip install --pre openvino --extra-index-url
https://storage.openvinotoolkit.org/simple/wheels/pre-release

OV Wheels on PyPi (not recommended)

Install OV Wheels from PyPI:

pip install openvino-nightly

Additional Information#

Determining the OpenVINO Version

If you need to operate on a specific OpenVINO release, and you are not sure which version is included in the installed package, you can verify it in one of two ways:

Python

Execute the following command within the installed package:

python3 -c "import openvino; print(openvino.__version__)"