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title: "Release Documentation"
sidenav: about
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include::shared/releases.adoc[]

= Release Documentation

[.right]
image:../gifs/doc.jpg[BSD daemon reading documentation,width=274,height=163]

Each distribution of FreeBSD includes several documentation files describing the particular distribution (RELEASE, SNAPSHOTs, etc.). These files typically include:

* README: General introduction.
* Release Notes: Information about changes from the previous release of FreeBSD.
* Hardware Notes: A list of hardware devices known to work with FreeBSD.
* Installation Instructions: A brief guide to installing FreeBSD.
* Errata: Late-breaking news, including corrections, security advisories, and potential problems found after each release.

The release notes, hardware notes, and installation instructions are customized for each architecture supported by FreeBSD.

== RELEASE versions of FreeBSD

The release documentation for each -RELEASE version of FreeBSD (for example, {rel122-current}-RELEASE) can be found on the link:../releases/[releases] page of the FreeBSD web site and on mirror sites.

These files are located in the top-level directory of each distribution. Both HTML and text forms are usually provided.

== Snapshot Versions of FreeBSD

The only release notes provided on the FreeBSD website are for FreeBSD -RELEASE, not FreeBSD -STABLE or FreeBSD -CURRENT.
