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# Mule Upgrades and Patch Updates

> For the full documentation index, see: https://docs.mulesoft.com/llms.txt

MuleSoft continuously improves the quality, capabilities, and security of Mule runtime engine
(Mule). In addition to upgrading to later versions of Mule, it also is important to apply regular
updates to the Mule versions (such as versions 3.9.5, 4.1.5, and 4.3.0) on which you are running
your Mule applications.

Be sure to review the information on updates, upgrades, versioning, and testing before attempting to
upgrade or apply a patch update.

## Mule Versioning

Mule follows semantic versioning to denote major, minor, and patch releases. The version is specific
to Mule applications that you deploy [on-premises](https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-runtime/latest/deploy-on-premises), to
[CloudHub](https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-runtime/latest/deploy-to-cloudhub) and
[CloudHub 2.0](https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-runtime/latest/deploy-to-cloudhub-2) through Anypoint Runtime Manager, or
to [Anypoint Runtime Fabric](https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-runtime/latest/deploy-to-rtf).

For Mule 4.5 and later, the version naming convention for CloudHub, CloudHub 2.0, and Runtime Fabric
changes following the schema for the new release channels, Edge and Long-term Support (LTS).

_Major\[numeric\] . Minor\[numeric\] . Patch\[numeric\] : Build\[numeric\] Channel\[e for edge,
nothing for LTS\]_

Here are examples of the version numbers:

- Edge: 4.5.0:1e

- Edge: 4.6.0:1e

- LTS: 4.6.0:1

In the case of Standalone (On-Premises), the Mule runtime versioning changes from date-based, for
example, `4.4.0-20230317` to semVer as:

_Major\[numeric\] . Minor\[numeric\] . Patch\[numeric\]_

Here are examples of the version numbers:

- 4.5.1

- 4.5.2

- 4.5.3

See [Edge and LTS Releases for Mule](https://docs.mulesoft.com/release-notes/mule-runtime/lts-edge-release-cadence).

## Update or Upgrade?

Mule _update_ processes are cumulative releases that include the latest bug fixes and security
enhancements to a specific patch (x.y.z) or build (x.y.z:1) version, plus all previously released
features and fixes for that patch version. For updates, see
[Update Patches to Mule](https://docs.mulesoft.com/release-notes/mule-runtime/patching-mule-versions).

Unlike the update process, the Mule _upgrade_ process is for upgrading to a later minor version. For
example, you can upgrade from Mule 4._x_ to 4._y_ (such as 4.3 to 4.4) or Mule 4.x._y_ to 4.x._z_
(such as 4.1.5 to 4.3.0). For minor and patch version upgrades or a major version migration, see:

- [Upgrade Mule Runtime Engine (Versions 4.x to 4.n)](https://docs.mulesoft.com/release-notes/mule-runtime/updating-mule-4-versions).

## Perform MUnit Tests Before Updating or Upgrading

Though Mule guarantees compatibility with new minor, patch, or patch update versions, it is
important to validate that your applications continue to run as expected in a testing environment
before running them in a production environment.

Run your [MUnit](https://docs.mulesoft.com/munit/latest/) tests on any new version of Mule to validate the application’s
behavior with that version.

## Mule Upgrade Tool

The Mule upgrade tool is a command line utility for updating and upgrading standalone instances of
the Mule 4 runtime engine that are hosted on-premises. The tool can upgrade any supported Mule 4
version (minor, patch, or patch update versions) to a new version.

MuleSoft recommends upgrading to the latest version of Mule.

To incorporate the latest changes and bug fixes, MuleSoft also recommends using the latest version
of the tool.

See [Mule Upgrade Tool](https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-runtime/latest/mule-upgrade-tool) for configuration and usage
instructions.