Versions and upgrades
How inbuxa numbers its releases, how long each line gets security fixes, and how to move between them: one version for the whole suite, two series a year.
On this page
inbuxa ships two series a year, in January and July. Fixes and features ship every week inside a series. Breaking changes wait for the next one. This page says what each version number means, how long each line is looked after, and how to move from one to the next.
One number for the whole suite
The server, inbuxa Admin, inbuxa Webmail, the installer, the CLI and inbuxa-migrate all share one version number. If they say the same series, they're made to work together.
| Version | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A series | Two-digit year and month it ships. Breaking changes only arrive here. | 27.1 (January 2027), 27.7 (July 2027) |
| A release in a series | Weekly fixes and features, nothing breaking | 27.1.1, 27.1.2 |
| A release candidate | A test build of a series before it ships | 27.1-rc.1, 27.1-rc.2 |
| The 2026 line | Dated releases from before the first series | 2026.10.29.1 |
Each series is announced on the forum about a month ahead.
Release candidates
A series that is ready early ships as release candidates first. They're
opt-in: a candidate is never latest, and nothing moves you onto one. Our own
mail runs on each candidate before anyone else is asked to.
A candidate gets no fixes of its own. The next candidate replaces it.
The 27.1 candidates are out now. Their release notes are on the releases page.
How long each line is looked after
When a new series ships, the one before it gets three more months of security fixes, then stops.
| Line | What it gets | Until |
|---|---|---|
| 27.1 (planned, January 2027) | Fixes, features and security fixes every week | 27.7 ships, then three months of security fixes |
| 2026.x | Security fixes only, since 28 October 2026 | Three months after 27.1 ships |
| Release candidates | Nothing: the next candidate replaces each one | The series ships |
Security fixes reach every line still inside its window. A fix lands in the current series and goes out as its own release on each older line that's still covered.
Image tags
Container images are on registry.coffeylabs.org/inbuxa/, with copies on
GitHub's registry.
| Tag | Points at | Moves |
|---|---|---|
latest |
The newest release of the current line | Yes. It stays on 2026.x until 27.1 ships, then moves to 27.1. |
27.1 |
The newest 27.1 release (planned, from January 2027) | Yes, inside the series only |
27.1.4 |
One exact release (planned) | Never |
27.1-rc |
The newest 27.1 release candidate | Yes, to each new candidate |
27.1-rc.4 |
One exact candidate | Never |
2026.10.29.1 |
One exact 2026.x release | Never |
Pin a series tag for weekly fixes without surprises. Pin an exact tag to choose every change yourself.
Upgrading
From 2026.x to 27.1
Pull the new images. There is no copy and no migration step. On first start the server marks the store with inbuxa's own store version, and that's all that changes on disk.
As with any upgrade, take a backup first.
Inside a series
Pull the next release. Nothing in a series needs a migration step.
From one series to the next
Read the release notes for the new series first: breaking changes are listed there. Then pull the new images.
From Stalwart 0.16
From 27.1 the store's layout is inbuxa's own, and Stalwart is a migration source like any other mail server. Stalwart 0.16.27 can be brought over in full: export the store with Stalwart's own binary, then import it into a new inbuxa store. The old server isn't touched, so rolling back means starting it again. The steps are in Coming from Stalwart.
Stalwart 1.0 changed its own layout and needs an importer of its own. That importer is planned for inbuxa-migrate. It ships when it's proven, not before.
Leaving inbuxa
inbuxa-migrate writes an account out in standard formats any mail server or app can take: mail as a Maildir, contacts as vCard, calendars as iCalendar, and Sieve filters as they are. It can also put the mail straight into another server over IMAP, and list a server's domains, accounts, groups and aliases, without passwords, to set them up again elsewhere. None of it needs anything from us to read. It's in inbuxa-migrate from 27.1-rc.2. See Leaving inbuxa. You shouldn't have to trust us to try us.
Automatic updaters
The move from 2026.x to 27.1 is the one time the numbers go backwards: 27.1 is smaller than 2026.10.29.1. Anything that compares version numbers will think 2026.x is newer and won't offer 27.1.
- Following
latest: nothing to do. The tag moves to 27.1 when the series ships. Tools that watch a tag for a new image, like Watchtower, follow it. - Pinned to a 2026.x release (Renovate, Dependabot, an update check of
your own): change the pin to
27.1by hand, once. After that 27.1.x, 27.7 and later series compare the right way round. - The installer installs exactly the versions it was released with, so it never compares them. A newer installer brings the newer series.
Stalwart is a trademark of Stalwart Labs LLC. inbuxa is not affiliated with or endorsed by Stalwart Labs.