Lifecycle Phase Definitions

General Support Phase

The General Support phase begins on the date of general availability of a Major Release (“GA”) and lasts for a fixed duration. During the General Support phase, for customers who have purchased VMware support, VMware offers maintenance updates and upgrades, bug and security fixes, and technical assistance as per the Support and Subscription Terms and Conditions.

 

Technical Guidance Phase

Technical Guidance, if available, is provided from the end of the General Support phase and lasts for a fixed duration. Support Services available are reduced where products are in the Technical Guidance Phase. Customers are encouraged to use the Self-Help portal as priority. If required, customers can open a support request online via their Customer Connect portal to receive support and workarounds for low-severity issues on supported configurations only.

During the Technical Guidance phase, VMware does not offer new hardware support, server/client/guest OS updates, new security patches or bug fixes unless otherwise noted. This phase is intended for usage by customers operating in stable environments with systems that are operating under reasonably stable loads. (See Lifecycle Support Summary Table)

 

End of Support Life (EOSL)

A product has reached its end of support life when it is no longer generally supported by VMware. End of support life for a specific product is either end of General Support or end of Technical Guidance, if available for that specific product.

 

End of Availability (EOA) / End Of Distribution (EOD)

A product has reached its end of availability when it is no longer available for purchase from VMware. A product has reached its end of distribution when VMware can no longer make it available as a download from vmware.com or distribute the product in other ways. The end of availability and end of distribution may coincide.

Lifecycle Support Summary

Features General Support Phase Technical Guidance Phase
Maintenance updates and upgrades X  
New security patches
 X  
New bug fixes X  
New hardware support X  
Server, Client and Guest OS updates X  
File a Support Request Phone and Web Web only
Existing security patches X X
Existing bug fixes X X
severity 1 X  
Workarounds for low-severity issue (severity 2, 3, and 4) X X
Self-help web-based support X X
Access to VMware Customer Connect X X

Lifecycle Support Policies At A Glance

The information contained herein is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication, but updates and revisions may be posted periodically and without notice. VMWARE DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY WARRANTIES COVERING THIS INFORMATION AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, AND SPECIAL DAMAGES, IN CONNECTION WITH THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE.

Lifecycle FAQ

VMware’s Support Lifecycle begins on the general availability date of the product.

Yes. VMware’s Support Lifecycle 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.

No, the System Compatibility Guide specifies which OEM systems are supported.

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.

No. VMware’s Support Lifecycle is based on the general availability of a product release and not support offerings.

Yes. VMware’s Support Lifecycle is divided into phases, each offering different levels of support. Phases vary by product in an effort to meet different market needs.

Critical bugs are deviations from specified product functionality that cause 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.

Yes.  Customers can access VMware Customer Connect through all three phases of the support lifecycle, General Support, Technical Guidance and End of Support. Please note VMware makes no commitment to retain or update content related to end of support offers.  To learn more about VMware Customer Connect, read the KB article here.