It’s official! Oracle has extended Solaris 11.4 support until 2037.
In the latest update of their Oracle Lifetime Support Policy Oracle and Sun System Software and Operating Systems, dated January 23, 2024, there was an update.
| Release | GA Date | Premier Support Ends | Extended Support Ends | Sustaining Support Ends |
| Solaris 8 | Feb 2000 | Mar 2009 | Mar 2012 | Indefinite |
| Trusted Solaris 8.x | Sep 2002 | Mar 2012 | Not Available | Indefinite |
| Solaris 9 | Mar 2002 | Oct 2011 | Oct 2014 | Indefinite |
| Solaris Legacy Containers | Dec 2010 | Jan 2018 | Jan 2024 | Indefinite |
| Solaris 10 | Jan 2005 | Jan 2018 | Jan 2027 | Indefinite |
| Solaris 10 Containers | Mar 2020 | Jan 2027 | Not Available | Indefinite |
| Solaris 11.3 | Oct 2015 | Jan 2021 | Jan 2027 | Indefinite |
| Solaris 11.4 | Aug 2018 | Nov 2031 | Nov 2037 | Indefinite |
First, it should be noticed that Solaris 11.4 Premier Support now has a date for of November 2031 for it to end (which is not really new) and Extended Support has an end date of November 2037.
Second, it should be noticed that Solaris Legacy Containers has an Extended Support of last month! So, if you find your installation has these containers, you could consider upgrading.
For your convenience, the support levels are described below:
- Premier Support – This is the level of support given all new products. It features:
- Major product and technology releases for operating system software and integrated software (e.g., firmware)
- Program updates, patches, fixes, security patches, and security alerts for operating system software and integrated software (e.g., firmware)
- General maintenance releases, selected functionality releases and documentation updates
- for operating system software and integrated software (e.g., firmware)
- Upgrade tools/scripts
- Critical Patch Updates for Oracle Solaris operating system software
- Certification with most new third-party products/versions and most new Oracle products
- Assistance with service requests 24 hours per day, 7 days a week
- Access to My Oracle Support
- 24×7 access to Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network
- Backport of fixes, using commercially reasonable efforts, for any Oracle Linux or Oracle
- VM program released from Oracle within the last six (6) months
- Right to use Oracle Management Pack for Linux
- Right to use Oracle Clusterware for Oracle Unbreakable Linux
- Non-technical customer service during normal business hours
- Extended Support – This is the next level of support. It features:
- Major product and technology releases for Oracle Solaris operating system software
- Program updates, patches, fixes, security patches, and security alerts for Oracle Solaris
- operating system software
- General maintenance releases, selected functionality releases and documentation updates
- for Oracle Solaris operating system software
- Upgrade tools/scripts
- Critical Patch Updates for Oracle Solaris operating system software
- Assistance with service requests 24 hours per day, 7 days a week
- Access to My Oracle Support
- Non-technical customer service during normal business hours
But what Extended Support does not include is certification with most new third-party products/versions or most new Oracle products.
- Sustaining Support – This is the final level of support. This level features:
- Program updates, patches, fixes, security patches and security alerts created during the Oracle Premier Support period
- General maintenance releases, selected functionality releases and documentation updates created during the Oracle Premier Support period
- Upgrade tools/scripts created during the Oracle Premier Support period
- Critical patch updates for Oracle Solaris created during the Oracle Premier and Extended
- Support period
- Assistance with service requests, on a commercially reasonable basis, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week
- Access to My Oracle Support 24×7 access to Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network
- Right to use Oracle Management Pack for Linux
- Right to use Oracle Clusterware for Oracle Unbreakable Linux
- Non-technical customer service during normal business hours
But what Sustaining Support does not include is:
-
- New program updates, patches, fixes, security patches, security alerts, critical patch
- updates, general maintenance releases, selected functionality releases, documentation
- updates or upgrade tools
- Certification with most new third-party products/versions or most new Oracle products
- 24-hour commitment and response guidelines for Severity 1 service requests
- Previously released fixes or updates that Oracle no longer supports
Solaris Legacy Containers has its Extended Support expire, meaning this product is in Sustaining Support. If that level of support is sufficient – for example, for legacy applications that are internal and ready to decommission (meaning not to be updated), that’s fine.
Contact Miro, your trusted software licensing advisor, for more information.