- What is VMware’s Support Life Cycle Policy?
VMware offers two different support life cycles for its products.
For VMware Infrastructure Software Suite, VMware will offer nine (9) years of support throughout each Major Release. Inside of each Major Release, VMware will offer a minimum of seven years of support for each Minor Release.
For all other VMware products, VMware supports each Major Release of the product from the time it is released until 18 months after the next Major Release becomes available.
- When does VMware’s Support Life Cycle start?
VMware’s support life cycle starts on the general availability date of the product.
- Do customers get different support life cycles based on the level of support that they subscribe to (i.e. gold, platinum, etc.)?
No, VMware customers who have purchased and are currently covered by either the Support and Subscription or Support and Limited Subscription (at either silver, gold, or platinum levels) will be entitled to VMware’s Support Life Cycle Policy.
- What are Major, Minor, and Maintenance Releases?
“Major Release” or “Upgrade” means a generally available release of the Software that contains functional enhancements or extensions, designated by VMware by means of a change in the digit to the left of the first decimal point (e.g. Software 5.0 >> Software 6.0).
“Minor Release” or “Update” means a generally available release of the Software that introduces a limited amount of new optional features and functionality, designated by VMware by means of a change in the digit to the right of the decimal point (e.g. Software 5.0 >>Software 5.1).
“Maintenance Releases” or “Update” means a generally available release of the Software that typically provides maintenance corrections or fixes only, designated by VMware by means of a change in the digit to the right of the second decimal point (e.g. Software 5.0 >> Software 5.0.1).
- Does VMware’s Support Life Cycle Policy apply globally?
Yes. VMware’s Support Life Cycle Policy is a worldwide policy. Local laws and market conditions that require deviations from the standard policy will be accommodated through specific support contracts between VMware and its customers.
The following FAQ applies only to the VMware Infrastructure Policy.
- Does VMware Support Life Cycle Policy apply to the whole VMware Infrastructure Software Suite as a bundle or apply to its individual products?
The VMware Infrastructure Policy applies to the individual products. For example, if a new Minor Release of VirtualCenter is available between revisions of the entire VMware Infrastructure Software Suite, the life cycle of that new release will start from its release date..
- Does VMware provide different levels of support throughout the support life cycle?
Yes, the support life cycle is divided into three phases each offering different levels of support: General Support, Extended Support, and Technical Guidance. When a particular release has reached the end of the Technical Guidance phase, it is said to be “end of support”
- Does VMware still provide nine (9) years of support if there isn't a 2nd Minor Release?
The nine years of support are described in the following table:
If there isn't a 2nd Minor Release, Tech Guidance phase will be extended to meet the nine years of offered support. If there are more then 2 Minor Releases, each release will receive it's full seven (7) years of phased support starting from the release date. As a result, the Major Release could have more than 9 years of support.- Does it mean that VMware will support older releases at the same time as new releases?
Yes, for example, after VMware ESX 3.0 is released, support for VMware ESX 2.5 will continue until the end of its life cycle.
- What about Maintenance Releases? Are there seven years of support on Maintenance Releases?
Maintenance Releases are supported from their general availability date until one year after the general availability date of the next Maintenance Release. If there is no next Maintenance Release, the support will run until the end of support for its parent Minor Release. For example VMware ESX 2.5.3 will be supported until one year after VMware ESX 2.5.4 is released. If VMware ESX 2.5.3 is the last Maintenance Release of the VMware ESX 2.5 branch, then the support for VMware ESX 2.5.3 will continue until the end of support life cycle for VMware ESX 2.5.
- The General Support Phase includes new hardware support, what does that mean to the customers?
It means that within the General Support phase, VMware will work with its hardware partners to continue to expand the System Compatibility Guide for that particular release. The selection of hardware and priority order that they are being tested and added to the System Compatibility Guide depends on customer and hardware partner input. VMware does not guarantee that all new hardware available in the market will be supported.
- Does VMware’s Support Life Cycle Policy specify which OEM systems will be supported?
No, the System Compatibility Guide specifies which OEM systems are supported.
- What does Guest OS Update Support mean?
It means that during the General Support Phase and Extended Support Phase, VMware will work with the Guest OS vendors to ensure that new Updates or Service Packs available for the Guest OSes will be compatible with VMware’s virtual machines. This does not apply to new Major Releases of Guest OSes.
- For how long will VMware provide patches for security vulnerabilities and bug fixes?
VMware will provide patches for security vulnerabilities and bug fixes thorough the General Support and Extended Support Phases of each Minor Release (which is a minimum of five years from the general availability date).
- What are the criteria for determining if a bug is critical or non-critical (as specified by the Support Life Cycle Policy)?
Critical bugs are deviations from specified product functionality that causes data corruption, data loss, system crash, or significant customer application down time. A bug is considered critical if it meets the mentioned criteria and there is no work-around that can be implemented.
- What is covered in the Technical Guidance Phase?
During the Technical Guidance Phase, customers can continue to call VMware’s helpdesk for technical support issues or access VMware’s web resources for self-help support. Patches are no longer issued for security vulnerabilities and bug fixes. Customers are encouraged to upgrade to the latest version of the product to avoid security vulnerabilities and bugs.
- Can customers pay for specific patches during the Technical Guidance Phase? What are the costs?
VMware will evaluate that on an individual basis. Generally customers are encouraged to upgrade to the latest release instead.
- Are there patches for VMware VirtualCenter during its General and Extended Support Phases?
VMware VirtualCenter security vulnerabilities and bugs are usually addressed by timely maintenance releases rather than patches.
- Does VMware’s Support Life Cycle Policy retroactively apply to older software releases?
VMware Infrastructure Policy generally starts with VMware Infrastructure 3 Software Suite and beyond. But due to popular customer requests, some older products are also included.
For VMware ESX, VMware Infrastructure Policy includes VMware ESX 2.5.3 and beyond. VMware ESX 2.5.2 and earlier will follow VMware’s General Policy.
For VMware VirtualCenter, VMware Infrastructure Policy applies to version 1.4 and beyond. VirtualCenter 1.3 and earlier will follow VMware’s General Policy.
- Does VMware provide notifications to customers when the next phase of the support life cycle is about to begin or end of support is about to arrive?
VMware will post the support phase transition dates and end of support dates for each of its software releases on its support website.
