This is just a friendly heads up for anyone who may still have VMware vSphere 4.x (ESX, ESXi, and vCenter 4.x) in their environment.
We have quickly approached the end of vSphere 4.x General Support phase on May 21st, 2014. This means that there will be no more maintenance updates / upgrades, security patches, bug fixes, new hardware support, or server / client / guest OS updates. This support is only provided during the General Support Phase which begins on the date of general availability of a Major Release (“GA”) and lasts for a fixed duration (typically 5 years).
Support will still be available through the 2-year Technical Guidance Phase but it’s limited to providing existing security patches, bug fixes, and workarounds for non-business critical issues. Be aware that there is no phone support for a product that has reached the Technical Guidance phase of its lifecycle.
- For a full list of VMware products lifecycles, check out the VMware Lifecycle Product Matrix.
- For the official lifecycle support phases list checkout the VMware Support Policies.