MySQL 8.4 LTS release cadence establishes predictable upgrade windows

MySQL 8.4 follows a quarterly LTS release schedule (January, April, July, October) from 8.4.0 (2024-04-30) through 8.4.8 (2026-01-20), providing predictable maintenance windows every 3 months for stability patches and performance improvements.

Plan quarterly maintenance windows aligned with LTS releases. Review release notes before each upgrade to identify breaking changes, new metrics, or configuration migrations. Test upgrades in staging during the first week of release months (Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct).