The VMware Infrastructure 3 Support Life Cycle Policy covers the software suites VMware Infrastructure 3 Starter, Standard and Enterprise Editions and includes the following products:
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General Life Cycle FAQs
- When does VMware’s Support Life Cycle begin?
VMware’s Support Life Cycle begins on the general availability date of the product.
- Are there different support life cycles for different support offerings (i.e. Platinum, Gold, , etc.)?
No, VMware’s Support Life Cycle is based on the general availability of a product release and not support offerings.
- 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.
- Does VMware provide different levels of support throughout the support life cycle?
Yes, VMware’s Support Life Cycle is divided into phases, each offering different levels of support. Phases vary by product in an effort to meet different market needs.
- 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 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.
- Does VMware provide notification 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 general availability, end of support and end of technical guidance dates for each of its software releases on the VMware Support web site.
VMware Infrastructure 3 Life Cycle Questions
- 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 VMware vCenter Server is available between revisions of the entire VMware Infrastructure Software Suite, the life cycle of that new release will start from its release date..
- What are Major, Minor, and Maintenance Release?
"Major Release" 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" 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 Release" 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 still provide nine 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 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 Release? Are there seven years of support on Maintenance Release?
Maintenance Release 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.
- 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.
- 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 is covered in the Technical Guidance Phase?
During the Technical Guidance Phase, assistance is available through the self help page. Customers can also open a support request online to receive support and workarounds for low-severity issues on supported configurations only. There will be no new hardware support, guest OS updates, security patches or bug fixes. Customers are encouraged to upgrade to the latest version of the product to avoid security vulnerabilities and bugs. Telephone support is not provided during Technical Guidance.
- 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 vCenter Server during its General and Extended Support Phases?
VMware vCenter Server security vulnerabilities and bugs are usually addressed by timely maintenance release rather than patches.
- Does VMware's Support Life Cycle Policy for VMware Infrastructure 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 for VMware Server (Version 1.4), VMware Infrastructure Policy applies. End of support has been reached for VMware VirtualCenter versions 1.3 and earlier.
