Releases

etcd v3.6.12 is a patch release in the 3.6 series. The release notes are sparse — check the full CHANGELOG for specifics before upgrading.

• breakingRead the CHANGELOG before upgrading

  The release notes for v3.6.12 are essentially empty — no changes are listed inline. Before upgrading any etcd cluster, pull the full CHANGELOG-3.6.md from the repo and review all entries since your current version. The official upgrade guide explicitly warns of potential breaking changes in the 3.6 series.

• enhancementVerify container registry targets in your pipelines

  etcd maintains two registries: gcr.io is primary, quay.io is secondary. If your CI/CD or deployment manifests pin to quay.io, confirm it stays in sync with the primary. For production clusters, prefer gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd to avoid lag.

etcd v3.5.31 is a patch release on the 3.5 branch. Release notes are minimal — check the full CHANGELOG for specifics before upgrading.

• breakingCheck the upgrade guide even for patch versions

  The etcd team explicitly calls out that breaking changes can appear in patch releases. Don't skip the upgrade guide assuming this is safe to apply blindly. Verify any API or storage format changes against your current deployment before scheduling maintenance.

• enhancementReview CHANGELOG before upgrading

  The release notes published here are sparse. Before rolling this out, pull the full CHANGELOG-3.5.md directly from the etcd repo to identify any bug fixes or behavioral changes that affect your cluster. Patch releases on 3.5 have historically included compaction fixes and lease handling improvements — worth verifying what specifically landed here.

etcd v3.4.45 is a maintenance release on the 3.4 branch. Release notes are sparse — check the full CHANGELOG for specifics before upgrading.

• breakingCheck the official upgrade guide even for patch releases

  The release explicitly flags that breaking changes may exist. Etcd 3.4.x is a mature but still-active branch used heavily in Kubernetes clusters. Verify the upgrade guide at etcd.io before rolling this out, especially in production environments where quorum and data integrity are non-negotiable.

• enhancementReview CHANGELOG before upgrading — release notes are intentionally minimal

  This release page contains almost no detail. Before upgrading, pull up CHANGELOG-3.4.md directly in the etcd GitHub repo to understand what actually changed. Blind upgrades on etcd — your cluster's source of truth — are a bad idea regardless of how minor a patch looks.

etcd v3.6.11 is a patch release. The release notes are sparse — check the full CHANGELOG for specifics before upgrading.

• breakingRead the upgrade guide before patching

  The release explicitly warns of potential breaking changes in the 3.6 upgrade path. Don't treat this as a routine patch drop — pull the CHANGELOG-3.6.md and the upgrade guide, diff against your current version, and validate in a non-prod cluster first.

• enhancementVerify container registry source in your pipelines

  etcd's primary registry is gcr.io, not Docker Hub or quay.io. If your CI/CD or Kubernetes manifests still pin quay.io/coreos/etcd, you're on the secondary mirror which may lag. Update image references to gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd to stay on the canonical source.

etcd v3.5.30 is a maintenance release in the 3.5 series. No release notes were published beyond pointers to the full changelog — check the CHANGELOG-3.5.md directly for specifics.

• breakingRead the full CHANGELOG before upgrading

  The release announcement is intentionally sparse — it just points to CHANGELOG-3.5.md. Before upgrading any etcd cluster, pull up that changelog directly and review every entry since your current version. etcd upgrades in production clusters carry real risk; skipping the changelog review is how you get surprised by behavior changes or data format shifts.

• enhancementStick to gcr.io as your primary image source

  The release explicitly lists gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd as primary and quay.io/coreos/etcd as secondary. If your deployment pipelines or air-gapped mirrors are still defaulting to quay.io, consider updating them to match the project's own priority — gcr.io tends to get images published first.

etcd v3.4.44 is a maintenance release on the 3.4 branch. Release notes are sparse — check the full CHANGELOG for the actual fix list before upgrading.

• breakingReview CHANGELOG before upgrading — release notes are empty

  The published release notes contain no change summary. Before upgrading any production cluster, pull up CHANGELOG-3.4.md directly and diff against your current version. Skipping this step on a Kubernetes control plane means you could hit an undocumented behavioral change mid-upgrade.

• enhancementStill on 3.4? Evaluate migration to 3.5

  3.4.x receives only critical fixes at this point. If you're running etcd as a Kubernetes backing store, now is a good time to plan a move to 3.5, which has a longer active support runway. Check Kubernetes version compatibility before scheduling the upgrade.

etcd v3.6.10 is a patch release in the 3.6 series. Release notes are minimal — check the full CHANGELOG for specifics before upgrading.

• breakingRead the upgrade guide before rolling this out

  The release explicitly warns of potential breaking changes in v3.6. Before upgrading any cluster, check the official upgrade guide for v3.6 and review the full CHANGELOG-3.6.md. Don't treat this as a routine drop-in patch without that review.

• enhancementPrefer gcr.io images over quay.io for production pulls

  etcd now designates gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd as the primary registry and quay.io/coreos/etcd as secondary. If your image pull policy or air-gapped mirror config still points primarily to quay.io, update it to reduce dependency on a secondary source.

etcd v3.5.29 is a maintenance release on the 3.5 branch with no detailed changelog published in the release notes themselves.

• securityVerify container image source after upgrade

  If you pull etcd images in CI/CD pipelines, confirm you're pointing to gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd as the primary registry. The quay.io mirror is secondary and may lag. Pin to the exact digest rather than the floating tag to avoid supply chain risk.

• breakingReview the official upgrade guide even for patch releases

  The release explicitly calls out that breaking changes may exist even in 3.5.x patch versions. Don't skip the upgrade guide. Test in a staging environment first, especially if you're running etcd as the backing store for Kubernetes — a botched etcd upgrade can take down your entire control plane.

• enhancementCheck CHANGELOG-3.5.md before upgrading

  The release notes here are skeletal — no specific fixes or changes are listed. Before upgrading any etcd cluster, pull up CHANGELOG-3.5.md on the etcd GitHub repo and filter for v3.5.29 entries. Patch releases on 3.5 typically carry bug fixes and CVE patches that aren't always obvious from the version bump alone.

etcd v3.4.43 is a maintenance release on the 3.4 branch. Release notes are sparse — check the full CHANGELOG for specifics before upgrading.

• breakingAlways consult the upgrade guide on 3.4 patch bumps

  Even on patch releases, the etcd team occasionally introduces subtle behavioral changes or deprecations. The official upgrade guide for v3.4 should be checked — don't assume a patch bump is always safe to apply without review, especially in etcd's case given its role as a control plane data store.

• enhancementReview CHANGELOG before upgrading

  The release notes themselves contain no inline change details. Before upgrading, pull up CHANGELOG-3.4.md directly and diff against your current version. 3.4.x patches typically carry bug fixes and CVE backports, so skipping the review risks missing a relevant fix or behavioral change.

etcd v3.6.9 is a maintenance release. The release notes are sparse — check the full CHANGELOG for the actual diff before upgrading.

• breakingRead the CHANGELOG before upgrading — release notes are incomplete

  The published release notes for v3.6.9 contain no change details. Before upgrading any etcd cluster, pull up CHANGELOG-3.6.md directly and diff the entries since your current version. The 3.6 series has known breaking changes, and skipping this step on a stateful system like etcd is a real risk.

• enhancementVerify container image source if you pull from quay.io

  etcd's primary registry is gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd. If your pipelines pull from quay.io/coreos/etcd, confirm that image is current and matches the gcr.io digest. Secondary registries can lag. Pin by digest, not just tag, to avoid silent version mismatches.

etcd v3.5.28 is a patch release in the 3.5 series. Release notes are sparse — check the full CHANGELOG for specifics before upgrading.

• breakingRead the CHANGELOG before upgrading — release notes are incomplete

  The published release notes for v3.5.28 contain no actual change details. Before upgrading any etcd cluster, pull the full CHANGELOG-3.5.md from the etcd repo and review entries since your current version. Skipping this on a stateful system like etcd is a real risk.

• enhancementStick to the primary container registry for pulls

  gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd is the authoritative image source. quay.io/coreos/etcd is secondary and may lag. If your cluster pulls from quay.io, verify the image digest matches the primary before deploying in production.

etcd v3.4.42 is a maintenance release on the 3.4 branch. The release notes are sparse — check the full CHANGELOG for specifics before upgrading.

• breakingCheck the upgrade guide even for patch releases

  The release explicitly calls out that breaking changes may exist. On a 3.4.x patch bump this is unlikely but not impossible — particularly around snapshot or WAL handling. Verify the upgrade guide is clean for your version before rolling out to production clusters.

• enhancementReview the full CHANGELOG before upgrading

  The release notes published here are essentially empty. Before applying this update to any environment, pull the CHANGELOG-3.4.md directly from the etcd repo to understand what bug fixes or patches are included. Blind upgrades on a critical consensus store are a bad idea.