Beginning in May 2022, TestRail will deliver releases bundled with new upgrades every quarter. Ahead of each release, you’ll receive updates and materials to help you prepare and adopt improvements in your quality workflows.
TestRail Cloud customers can also choose when to receive new releases by selecting one of three release tracks:
- Early Access track – Get new features as soon as they become available, about one to three months before everyone else.
- Default track – By default, your instance will receive updates during the last month of each fiscal quarter. No action is required to remain on this track.
- Deferred track – Defer upgrades to your instance by three months after they are released to the Default release track.
Choose when you get new features
Not all teams are ready to adopt new features at the same time. That’s why TestRail offers you a choice between release tracks so you can control when new releases come your way.
Early Access track
With Early Access, you’ll get new features as they become available, about one to three months before everyone else.
Default track
By default, all TestRail Cloud customers will be placed on the Default release track and receive updates during the last month of each fiscal quarter. Unless you’ve taken action to switch to an alternative track, this is when you can expect a bundle of new features to come your way.
You can also preview new features before they are released into the Default track by signing up for a trial instance and requesting to upgrade it to the Early Access track.
Deferred track
By choosing the Deferred track, you’ll defer your instance upgrades by three months after they are released for the Default track. During this period, new features introduced to TestRail Cloud during the Default period will become available for TestRail Server customers as well.
How to change your release track
No action is required to keep your TestRail Cloud instance on the Default track. To change your release track, authorized team members with access to the TestRail Customer Portal can request to change your release track. We can only process release track change requests from authorized team members.
Once you have signed up for the Early Release track, you cannot revert to the default track until the following quarter. This is because a database rollback would be required which cannot be supported at the present time.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. As a user/administrator, how will I know which track my instance is on? If it will be listed somewhere on the instance site, will that be visible only on future upgrades? Will that be visible from my Customer Portal, or only within the instance itself?
TestRail users and administrators can easily view their release track and version number on their TestRail instance login page or by navigating to Help & Feedback>About TestRail from within their TestRail instance. Administrators may also check this in the Info section of the Administration area of their TestRail instance. For sake of example (numbers used are arbitrary), the following format will be used to identify the release track of your instance:
- Early Access Release – 7.6.0 Early Access (1020)
- Default Release – 7.5.2 Default (1002)
- Deferred Release – 7.5.8 Deferred (2043)
2. Who is authorized to choose the release track my instance is on?
Anyone can submit a request to choose their preferred release track. However, if the request was not submitted by an authorized user, the TestRail team will seek approval from someone listed as being authorized before the request can be approved.
An authorized user is defined as a user who has Administrator privileges in your TestRail instance and can access the Gurock Customer Portal for your account.
3. How long will it take to change my instance to the Early Access release track?
Your instance can be switched to the Early Access release track in as quickly as five business days. Once necessary authorization has been made to validate the request, there is a five-day “cooling period”. During this time the TestRail team will send a notification of the validated request to all Gurock Customer Portal users offering a chance to cancel the request. This is a courtesy set forth to ensure that no instances are upgraded without transparency across your team.
4. Can I change my release track from Early Access to Default or Deferred tracks?
Yes. To change your instance from Early Access to Default or Deferred you must follow the same request process that was followed initially when choosing the Early Release track. Please note, that the change of your instance from Early Access to Default or Deferred will take place during the next Quarterly Release shift.
5. What about bug fixes or security patches?
Bug fixes will be released to both the Early Access and Default tracks. Critical security patches will be applied to all three tracks.
6. Can I have a trial instance on the Early Access track?
Yes. If you would like to test out features on the Early Access track, please feel free to sign up for a free trial at https://secure.gurock.com/customers/testrail/trial, and then submit the Choose Your Release Track form to request to move your trial to the Early Access release track.
7. Are there different release tracks for TestRail Server versions?
Currently, TestRail Server customers will be able to download new release packages from the Gurock Customer Portal when they are available. There are no separate release tracks for TestRail Server versions.