NOTE: This is a guide for GitLab developers. If you are trying to install GitLab see the latest stable [installation guide](install/installation.md) and if you are trying to upgrade, see the [upgrade guides](update).
## When to do a patch release
Do a patch release when there is a critical regression that needs to be addresses before the next monthly release.
Otherwise include it in the monthly release and note there was a regression fix in the release announcement.
1. In a separate commit in the master branch update the CHANGELOG
1. For EE, update the CHANGELOG-EE if it is EE specific fix. Otherwise, merge the stable CE branch and add to CHANGELOG-EE "Merge community edition changes for version X.X.X"
1. Apply the patch to GitLab.com and the private GitLab development server
1. Apply the patch to ci.gitLab.com and the private GitLab CI development server
1. Create and publish a blog post, see [patch release blog template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/master/doc/patch_release_blog_template.md)
1. Send tweets about the release from `@gitlab`, tweet should include the most important feature that the release is addressing and link to the blog post