Upgrade Confluence server to 7.13.5 LTS or 7.17.1?

[Lucinda Stroud]

Hi all, I will be leaving an organization in a couple of months, but I want to make sure that they are set up as well as possible before my departure.  Currently they are running Confluence Server 7.13.0.  I'm torn between upgrading them to the latest version of the currently available LTS (7.13.5) or going for the latest version available at all (7.17.1).  Regardless of which Confluence version we upgrade to, we'll be transitioning to a non-clustered Data Center deployment at the same time.

In a perfect world, I'd be able to upgrade them to the next LTS of 7.19, but that will not be available until Q3 of this year when I will already be gone.

What are your recommendations?  I'd prefer to have the upgrade completed by the end of April but could potentially delay through the end of May.

Edit to add: The organization will not update Confluence frequently after my departure, likely only once a year or in response to critical security vulnerabilities.

[Bastian Stehmann · Accepted solution]

Hi @Lucinda Stroud ,

it depends how often you are going to update your Confluence in the future. If you will update often, you can head for the latest version. If you will not update often (maybe once a year), I would go for the LTS version.

And just as Pramodh said, document well how you did the upgrade, so that you are well prepared for the next one.

[Lucinda Stroud]

Thanks, @Bastian Stehmann .  The organization will not upgrade Confluence often in the future, so I'm looking for the option that will serve them well the longest.

[Bastian Stehmann]

On that case i would definitely use the LTS version. You can stick with that version for a while and all important fixes should be backported there, so that you have only minor updates if needed.

[Lucinda Stroud]

Great, thanks so much!

[Pramodh M]

Hi @Lucinda Stroud 

Glad!! Looks all good with the latest version https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/issues-resolved-in-7-17-1-1115683087.html

Upgrade the version to 7.17.1 and make proper documentation on how to do the upgrade in your environment along with necessary steps also with steps to move to Data Center when they upgrade the version next time!!

Thanks