MapServer · jmckenna · Dec 3, 2025 · Dec 3, 2025 · Dec 3, 2025 · Dec 3, 2025
diff --git a/conf.py b/conf.py
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ def __getattr__(cls, name):
 # The short X.Y version.
 version = '8.6'
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = '8.6.0-rc1'
+release = '8.6.0'
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
 #language = None

diff --git a/en/announcements/announcements_archive.txt b/en/announcements/announcements_archive.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@
  MapServer Announcement Archives
 *****************************************************************************
 
+**2025-12-03 - MapServer 8.6.0 is released**
+
+The major version MapServer 8.6 has been released. The list of
+major changes for this release can be found in the :ref:`8.6 announcement <announce-8-6>`.
+See the :ref:`changelog <changelog-8-6-0>`
+for the full list of changes and head to :ref:`download` to obtain a copy.
+
 **2025-11-27 - MapServer 8.6.0-rc1 is released**
 
 The first release candidate for MapServer 8.6 has been released. The list of

diff --git a/en/development/announce/8-6.txt b/en/development/announce/8-6.txt
@@ -1,23 +1,22 @@
 .. _announce-8-6:
 
 *****************************************************************************
-Version 8.6.0-rc1 Announcement
+Version 8.6.0 Announcement
 *****************************************************************************
 
 :Authors: Project Steering Committee
-:Last Updated: 2025-11-27
-:Status: Draft
+:Last Updated: 2025-12-03
 
-The MapServer Team is pleased to announce the first release candidate of 
+The MapServer Team is pleased to announce the major release of 
 MapServer 8.6.0
 
-The upcoming 8.6 release brings a number of major new features that are briefly 
+The 8.6 release brings a number of major new features that are briefly 
 summarized in this document. The full list of changes can be found in :ref:`changelog-8-6`.
 The :ref:`Migration Guide <migration-8-6>` also contains more detailed examples of 
 the major changes.
 
-Major New Features Coming in MapServer 8.6
-------------------------------------------
+Major New Features in MapServer 8.6
+-----------------------------------
 
 - allow append of additional query parameters for OGCAPI: Features (`#7360 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7360>`__)
 
@@ -53,13 +52,13 @@ Binary Distributions
 
 Binary distributions will be available in the coming days:
 
-- Debian binaries of 8.6.0-rc1 are already available: https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/mapserver
+- Debian binaries of 8.6.0 are already available: https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/mapserver
 - `OSGeoLive <https://live.osgeo.org>`__ 17.0 release process is happening now, but
-  it will soon include MapServer 8.6.0-rc1
+  it will soon include MapServer 8.6.0
 - `UbuntuGIS <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGIS>`__ will follow the OSGeoLive
-  release and will then include MapServer 8.6.0-rc1
+  release and will then include MapServer 8.6.0
 - MS4W users have already been using branch-8-6 code, but watch for 
-  a new release shortly containing the 8.6.0-rc1 changes at: https://ms4w.com
+  a new release shortly containing the 8.6.0 changes at: https://ms4w.com
 
 .. TBD    
     - `RHEL and CentOS` TODO

diff --git a/en/development/changelog/changelog-8-6.txt b/en/development/changelog/changelog-8-6.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,13 @@
 The summary of major changes for this release can be found in the `HISTORY.md <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/blob/branch-8-6/HISTORY.md>`__
 file from the source directory.
 
+.. _changelog-8-6-0:
+
+Changes from 8.6.0-rc1 to 8.6.0
+===============================
+
+* CI: upgrade PCRE2 to 10.47 ( `#7400 <https://github.com/mapserver/mapserver/issues/7400>`__ ) (Jeff McKenna) : `67a6e16 <https://github.com/mapserver/mapserver/commit/67a6e16c48b0ad4c73caf22fa6cff1527ecac050>`__
+
 .. _changelog-8-6-0-rc1:
 
 Changes from 8.6.0-beta2 to 8.6.0-rc1

diff --git a/en/download.txt b/en/download.txt
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Current Release(s)
 
 * MapServer
 
-  * **2025-11-27** MapServer-8.6.0-rc1 `tar.gz <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.6.0-rc1.tar.gz>`__ | `.zip <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.6.0-rc1.zip>`__ | :ref:`Changelog <changelog-8-6>`
+  * **2025-12-03** MapServer-8.6.0 `tar.gz <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.6.0.tar.gz>`__ | `.zip <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.6.0.zip>`__ | :ref:`Changelog <changelog-8-6>`
   * **2025-09-19** MapServer-8.4.1 `tar.gz <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.4.1.tar.gz>`__ | `.zip <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.4.1.zip>`__ | :ref:`Changelog <changelog-8-4>`
   * **2024-09-02** MapServer-8.2.2 `tar.gz <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.2.2.tar.gz>`__ | `.zip <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.2.2.zip>`__ | :ref:`Changelog <changelog-8-2>`
   * **2024-06-11** MapServer-8.0.2 `tar.gz <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.0.2.tar.gz>`__ | :ref:`Changelog <changelog-8-0>`

diff --git a/en/download_archives.txt b/en/download_archives.txt
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 Past Releases
 ..............................................................................
 
+* **2025-12-03** MapServer-8.6.0 `tar.gz <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.6.0.tar.gz>`__ | `.zip <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.6.0.zip>`__ | :ref:`Changelog <changelog-8-6>`
+
 * **2025-09-19** MapServer-8.4.1 `tar.gz <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.4.1.tar.gz>`__ | `.zip <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.4.1.zip>`__ | :ref:`Changelog <changelog-8-4>`
 
 * **2025-01-15** MapServer-8.4.0 `tar.gz <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.4.0.tar.gz>`__ | `.zip <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/mapserver-8.4.0.zip>`__ | :ref:`Changelog <changelog-8-4>`

diff --git a/en/include/announcements.inc b/en/include/announcements.inc
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-**2025-11-27 - MapServer 8.6.0-rc1 is released**
+**2025-12-03 - MapServer 8.6.0 is released**
 
-The first release candidate for MapServer 8.6 has been released. The list of
+The major version MapServer 8.6 has been released. The list of
 major changes for this release can be found in the :ref:`8.6 announcement <announce-8-6>`.
-See the :ref:`changelog <changelog-8-6-0-rc1>`
+See the :ref:`changelog <changelog-8-6-0>`
 for the full list of changes and head to :ref:`download` to obtain a copy.
 
 **2025-09-19 - MapServer 8.4.1 is released**

diff --git a/en/mapfile/scalebar.txt b/en/mapfile/scalebar.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@
  SCALEBAR
 *****************************************************************************
 
+ .. note::
+
+    MapServer supports only cartesian distances (straight-line distance measured
+    on a flat surface), it does not convert distances into an ellipsoidal 
+    distance (measured on spherical shape).
+
 Scalebars currently do not make use of TrueType fonts. The size of the 
 scalebar image is NOT known prior to rendering, so be careful not to 
 hard-code width and height in the <IMG> tag in the template file. Future 

diff --git a/en/mapscript/index.txt b/en/mapscript/index.txt
@@ -9,13 +9,8 @@
  .. warning::
 
     As of the MapServer 8.0.0 release PHP support is only available through
-    MapServer's :ref:`SWIG API <swig>`.
-
- .. note::
-
-    As of the MapServer 7.4.0 release PHP is available through
-    MapServer's :ref:`SWIG API <swig>`.  PHP 8.2 and PHP 8.1 are currently 
-    supported with MapServer 8.0.1.
+    MapServer's :ref:`SWIG API <swig>`. Supported versions are PHP 8.5 and 
+    PHP 8.4 with MapServer 8.6.0
 
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 2

diff --git a/en/utilities/scalebar.txt b/en/utilities/scalebar.txt
@@ -7,14 +7,21 @@
  scalebar
 *****************************************************************************
 
+ .. note::
+
+    MapServer supports only cartesian distances (straight-line distance measured
+    on a flat surface), it does not convert distances into an ellipsoidal 
+    distance (measured on spherical shape).
+
 Purpose
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-------
 
-Creates a scalebar from a mapfile. Output is either PNG or GIF depending 
-on what version of the GD library used.
+Creates a scalebar image from a mapfile. Output format of the image (such as 
+PNG, JPEG, etc.) depends on your defined :ref:`IMAGETYPE <imagetype>` in 
+your mapfile.
 
 Syntax
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+------
 
 ::