What PAN‑OS version should we choose as the recommended release today?

[bdh.185str.kl]

Hello everyone,

I have a question regarding the recommended PAN‑OS versions.

In the past, Palo Alto Networks provided a web page that clearly indicated which PAN‑OS versions were considered recommended or preferred. However, recently it seems that some of those pages are no longer accessible, or at least I can no longer find them through the same navigation paths.

As a result, I would like to ask the following questions to the community:

1. Which PAN‑OS version is currently recommended for production environments?
   • For example, is PAN‑OS 11.1 / 11.2 still preferred over PAN‑OS 12.x for stability?
   • If PAN‑OS 12.1 is recommended, is there a minimum maintenance release (such as 12.1.4 or later) that should be used?
2. Is there an official Palo Alto Networks page that lists the recommended (Preferred) PAN‑OS versions?
   • If so, could you please share the link?
   • Additionally, could you explain how to navigate to that page from the Support Portal or LIVEcommunity (for example, the menu path)?

The reason I am asking is that, from an operational perspective, many customers rely on the “Preferred Release” guidance when deciding whether to upgrade. Without a clearly visible reference page, it becomes more difficult to justify version selection, especially in conservative production environments.

Any clarification or official references would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help.

[kiwi · Accepted solution]

Hi @bdh.185str.kl ,

The preferred release page is still very much active and can be found here (customer login required):
https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/customer-resources/pan-os-globalprotect-amp-user-id-preferred-r...

Hope this helps,

[Brandon_Wertz]

Not to mention Palo literally built the "preferred" release into the PAN-OS product now.  Both the firewall product itself as well as the customer download location.

[Brandon_Wertz]

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@bdh.185str.kl wrote:

Hello everyone,

I have a question regarding the recommended PAN‑OS versions.

In the past, Palo Alto Networks provided a web page that clearly indicated which PAN‑OS versions were considered recommended or preferred. However, recently it seems that some of those pages are no longer accessible, or at least I can no longer find them through the same navigation paths.

As a result, I would like to ask the following questions to the community:

1. Which PAN‑OS version is currently recommended for production environments?
   • For example, is PAN‑OS 11.1 / 11.2 still preferred over PAN‑OS 12.x for stability?
   • If PAN‑OS 12.1 is recommended, is there a minimum maintenance release (such as 12.1.4 or later) that should be used?
2. Is there an official Palo Alto Networks page that lists the recommended (Preferred) PAN‑OS versions?
   • If so, could you please share the link?
   • Additionally, could you explain how to navigate to that page from the Support Portal or LIVEcommunity (for example, the menu path)?

The reason I am asking is that, from an operational perspective, many customers rely on the “Preferred Release” guidance when deciding whether to upgrade. Without a clearly visible reference page, it becomes more difficult to justify version selection, especially in conservative production environments.

Any clarification or official references would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help.

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@bdh.185str.kl  -- Are you actually using the product?  I ask because your account was only created 4 days ago.  I'm going to assume you're not a bot and a real account, just new to the product.

On the customer support portal, if you go to "Updates" and select your platform Palo directly tells customers what the current preferred software is in the current supported software versions.  It's also built into the PAN-OS product itself.  I'm all for challenging a vendor to improve their product, but sometime you have to put a little effort to getting the information yourself too.  With this information it's incumbent upon us the customer to read the release notes and product documentation to make the informed decision on which code to deploy.

[bdh.185str.kl]

First of all, thank you very much for your reply.
As you correctly pointed out, this account was created recently; however, that is because I have only recently been assigned to this role.
For that reason, I reached out to seek the advice and experience of my seniors and colleagues.
Although it is unfortunate that I cannot select two solutions, your response—especially the screenshot you provided—was extremely helpful.
Once again, I would like to express my sincere appreciation.
Thank you very much for your kind support.

[bdh.185str.kl]

First of all, thank you very much for your reply.
As you mentioned, my account is newly created because I have only recently taken over responsibility for this environment.
Your explanation and the screenshot you provided helped me better understand how Preferred Releases are shown in Device > Software and how they should be interpreted during upgrade planning.
This clarification will be very helpful as we continue evaluating our PAN‑OS upgrade options.
Thank you again for sharing your knowledge.