Elastic Beanstalk platforms glossary - AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Elastic Beanstalk platforms glossary

Following are key terms related to AWS Elastic Beanstalk platforms and their lifecycle.

Runtime

The programming language-specific runtime software (framework, libraries, interpreter, vm, etc.) required to run your application code.

Elastic Beanstalk Components

Software components that Elastic Beanstalk adds to a platform to enable Elastic Beanstalk functionality. For example, the enhanced health agent is necessary for gathering and reporting health information.

Platform

A combination of an operating system (OS), runtime, web server, application server, and Elastic Beanstalk components. Platforms provide components that are available to run your application.

Platform Version

A combination of specific versions of an operating system (OS), runtime, web server, application server, and Elastic Beanstalk components. You create an Elastic Beanstalk environment based on a platform version and deploy your application to it.

A platform version has a semantic version number of the form X.Y.Z, where X is the major version, Y is the minor version, and Z is the patch version.

A platform version can be in one of the following states:

  • Recommended – The latest platform version in a supported platform branch. This version contains the most up-to-date components and is recommended for use in production environments.

  • Not Recommended – Any platform version that is not the latest version in its platform branch. While these versions may remain functional, we strongly recommend updating to the latest platform version. You can use managed platform updates to help stay up-to-date automatically.

You can verify if a platform version is recommended using the AWS CLI command describe-platform-version and checking the PlatformLifecycleState field.

Platform Branch

A line of platform versions sharing specific (typically major) versions of some of their components, such as the operating system (OS), runtime, or Elastic Beanstalk components. For example: Python 3.13 running on 64bit Amazon Linux 2023; IIS 10.0 running on 64bit Windows Server 2025. Platform branches receive updates in the form of new platform versions. Each successive platform version in a branch is an update to the previous one.

The recommended version in each supported platform branch is available to you unconditionally for environment creation. A previous platform version is available to you if you were using an environment with it at the time the platform version was superceded by a new platform version. Previous platform versions lack the most up-to-date components and aren't recommended for use.

A platform branch can be in one of the following states:

  • Supported – A current platform branch. It consists entirely of supported components. Supported components have not reached End of Life (EOL), as designated by their suppliers. It receives ongoing platform updates, and is recommended for use in production environments. For a list of supported platform branches, see Elastic Beanstalk supported platforms in the AWS Elastic Beanstalk Platforms guide.

  • Beta – A preview, pre-release platform branch. It's experimental in nature. It may receive ongoing platform updates for a while, but has no long-term support. A beta platform branch isn't recommended for use in production environments. Use it only for evaluation. For a list of beta platform branches, see Elastic Beanstalk Platform Versions in Public Beta in the AWS Elastic Beanstalk Platforms guide.

  • Deprecated – A platform branch where one or more components (such as the runtime or operating system) are approaching End of Life (EOL) or have reached EOL, as designated by their suppliers. While a deprecated platform branch continues to receive new platform versions until its retirement date, components that have reached EOL don't receive updates. For example, if a runtime version reaches EOL, the platform branch will be marked as deprecated but will continue to receive operating system updates until the platform branch retirement date. The platform branch will not continue to receive updates to the EOL runtime version. A deprecated platform branch isn't recommended for use.

  • Retired – A platform branch that no longer receives any updates. Retired platform branches aren't available to create new Elastic Beanstalk environments using the Elastic Beanstalk console. If your environment uses a retired platform branch, you must update to a supported platform branch to continue receiving updates. A retired platform branch isn't recommended for use. For more details about retired platform branches, see Elastic Beanstalk platform support policy. For a list of platform branches scheduled for retirement, see Retiring platform branch schedule. To see past retired platform branches, see Retired platform branch history.

If your environment uses a deprecated or retired platform branch, we recommend that you update it to a platform version in a supported platform branch. For details, see Updating your Elastic Beanstalk environment's platform version.

You can verify the state of a platform branch using the AWS CLI command describe-platform-version and checking the PlatformBranchLifecycleState field.

Platform Update

A release of new platform versions that contain updates to some components of the platform—OS, runtime, web server, application server, and Elastic Beanstalk components. Platform updates follow semantic version taxonomy, and can have three levels:

  • Major update – An update that has changes that are incompatible with existing platform versions. You may need to modify your application to run correctly on a new major version. A major update has a new major platform version number.

  • Minor update – An update that has changes that are backward compatible with existing platform versions in most cases. Depending on your application, you may need to modify your application to run correctly on a new minor version. A minor update has a new minor platform version number.

  • Patch update – An update that consists of maintenance releases (bug fixes, security updates, and performance improvements) that are backward compatible with an existing platform version. A patch update has a new patch platform version number.

Managed Updates

An Elastic Beanstalk feature that automatically applies patch and minor updates to the operating system (OS), runtime, web server, application server, and Elastic Beanstalk components for an Elastic Beanstalk supported platform version. A managed update applies a newer platform version in the same platform branch to your environment. You can configure managed updates to apply only patch updates, or minor and patch updates. You can also disable managed updates completely.

For more information, see Managed platform updates.