Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1. About Migrations and Upgrades

Major Upgrades

A major upgrade or migration is required when an application is moved from one major release to another, for example, from JBoss EAP 6.4 to JBoss EAP 7.0. If an application follows the Java EE specifications, does not access deprecated APIs, and does not contain proprietary code, it might be possible to run the application in JBoss EAP 7 without any application code changes. However, the server configuration has changed in JBoss EAP 7 and requires migration. This type of migration is addressed in the JBoss EAP Migration Guide.

Minor Updates

JBoss EAP periodically provides point releases, which are minor updates that include bug fixes, security fixes, and new features. Information about the changes made in a point release are documented in the JBoss EAP Migration Guide and in the 7.2.0 Release Notes.

You can use the JBoss Server Migration Tool to automatically upgrade from one point release to another, for example from JBoss EAP 7.0 to JBoss EAP 7.1. For information about how to configure and run the tool, see Using the JBoss Server Migration Tool.

If you prefer, you can perform a manual upgrade of the server configuration. Instructions on how to perform a manual upgrade are documented in this guide. For more information, see Upgrading JBoss EAP.

Cumulative Patches

JBoss EAP also periodically provides cumulative patches that contain bug and security fixes. Cumulative patches increment the release by the last digit, for example from 7.1.0 to 7.1.1. Patch installation is addressed in the Patching JBoss EAP chapter of this guide.

1.2. Subscribing to Security Announcements

Red Hat maintains a mailing list for security announcements. You can subscribe to this mailing list to be notified of security-related announcements that affect JBoss EAP.