Plesk Lifecycle Policy

ARCHIVED 2019-10-18, DATE APPROXIMATE · VERSION 20191018_rev01 · COMPARED WITH 20190716_rev01

Full text changes — 20190716_rev01 to 20191018_rev01

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1Plesk is committed to providing high-quality, cost-effective solutions to our customers. Rapidly changing technologies influence the level, timing and character of demand for particular product versions and components. All of this drives the need to introduce new products and services as well as to end support for older software versions.
1Plesk continues to evolve from a basic and feature-based control panel to a powerful management platform proven on Server, Sites, Apps, Hosting & Cloud Businesses. Rapidly changing technologies require an update to the Plesk Lifecycle and End-of-Life (EOL) policy. This new approach supports Plesk users in staying ahead of the game, mitigating security risks, by making it easier for Plesk partners and customers to always be on the latest software version.
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3To assist our customers in this regard, we provide a clear lifecycle and end-of-life (EOL) policy to assist in planning decisions around using and upgrading both Plesk and the environment in which it is running.
3**Benefits:**
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5- A **major version** is defined as any change in the first digit(s) of the **Plesk version** number. For example, Plesk 12 and Plesk 11 are different major versions whereas Plesk 12.0 and 12.5 are not. From Plesk Onyx on, we will define new versions by a change in the version name as opposed to the version number.
6- A **preview version** is defined as any Plesk version, which is only available through the non-default ["testing" release tier](https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/213373849-Plesk-Release-Tiers) in the Plesk Installer.
7- Plesk will always provide software patches and accept technical support requests for the latest Plesk major version and its immediately preceding version.
8- Plesk does not accept technical support requests for preview versions of Plesk. To report bugs and ask technical questions, go to the [Plesk Community Forum](https://talk.plesk.com/). To submit feature requests, go to our [Plesk UserVoice](https://plesk.uservoice.com/).
9- Each major version will be fully supported for at least a period of **four (4) years** after release.
10 - **Extended Support**: After this 4 year period, the product will no longer be available for new purchases and will continue to receive patches only for critical issues. This will last for a period of **six (6) months**.
11 - **End-of-Life**: Once the Extended Support period is over, the product will stop receiving further development, and technical support requests will no longer be accepted.
12- In order to ensure stable operation, it is required to be on the latest update/patch within a major released version of Plesk. Preview versions must not be used in production environments.
13- Support for a particular instance is also dependent on using a currently supported operating system. This policy is described in the relevant section below.
14- Even for unsupported instances, Plesk will continue to accept technical support requests that are related to updating to a supported version or environment. Exceptions are updates from and to preview versions, since the stability of such upgrades is not guaranteed.
51. No need to upgrade or migrate to a new major version each year
62. Immediate access to new features or improved existing ones
73. Constantly patching potential security vulnerabilities
84. Boosted speed and performance
95. Protection of user's data
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16### Plesk version lifecycle
11With the launch of Obsidian, Plesk is ending the era of upgrades and introduces a monthly release cycle. Switching to monthly updates is imperative to always deliver a secure and stable version of Plesk with new features and improvements that Partners and Customers expect to get from an intelligent software solution.
12In the past, Plesk used to launch one major version per year and users were required to upgrade the Plesk server (e.g. 12.x > 17.x). With Plesk Obsidian, users are strongly recommended to allow automatic updates through [Plesk Server settings](https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000283234-How-to-disable-auto-updates-in-Plesk-) so they will automatically be on the latest version including hotfixes, security patches, micro updates, and more. The [dedicated blog article](https://www.plesk.com/blog/partners/plesk-obsidian-the-beginning-of-a-short-releases-era/) offers additional details about monthly updates and the changed approach.
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18The table below describes when specific versions of Plesk will enter the Extended Support phase and when patches / support will no longer be available for them. If affected by one of the below dates, customers are encouraged to upgrade to a supported Plesk version:
14**IMPORTANT NOTE:**
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20| Product | Released | Extended Support | End of Life |
21| --- | --- | --- | --- |
22| Plesk Obsidian | June 4, 2019 \* | TBD | TBD |
23| Plesk Onyx | October 11, 2016 | October 11, 2020 | April 20, 2021 |
24| Plesk 12 | June 16, 2014 | June 16, 2018 | January 1, 2019 |
25| Plesk 11 | June 13, 2012 | June 13, 2016 | December 13, 2016 |
26| Plesk 10 | November 3, 2010 | January 31, 2015 | May 3, 2015 |
27| Plesk 9 | December 9, 2008 | December 9, 2012 | June 9, 2013 |
28| Plesk 8 | September 20, 2006 | March 1, 2012 | September, 2012 |
29| Small Business Panel \*\* | November, 2009 | August 1, 2011 | July, 2012 |
30| Plesk 7 and earlier | February 10, 2004 | n/a | January 1, 2012 |
161. An up-to-date and supported Plesk installation with all the latest available updates installed is a prerequisite for technical support from Plesk.
172. Security patches, security updates and/or hotfixes are **NOT shipped when automatic updates are disabled.**
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32<table><tbody><tr><td></td><td>Supported versions</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Unsupported versions</td></tr></tbody></table>
19_**Disclaimer: In case automatic updates are disabled on a particular Plesk server, the owner of the server acknowledges and agrees to take full responsibility for any resulting potential security risks and/or hacker attacks to his server. Plesk specifically disclaims any liability or responsibility in these cases of disabled security settings.**_
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34\* Starting from this date, Plesk begins accepting technical support requests for Plesk Obsidian Release Candidates (RC). Actual release date for Plesk Obsidian will be announced separately.
35\*\* The upgrade path for Small Business Panel customers involves a migration to Plesk 10, where these products were merged.
21Plesk highly recommends to enable automatic updates if the user wants the Plesk server(s) to be stable and secure and have access to support.
3622
37### Currently supported OSes
23- A **major version** is defined as a change of the first digit(s) of any **Plesk version** number. For example, Plesk Onyx (17.x) and Plesk Obsidian (18.x) are different major versions. Starting with Plesk Obsidian, version 18 will remain a major version that will be supported.
24- For Plesk Obsidian (18.x), software patches are provided and support requests are accepted for the latest available update of this major version as well as the preceding update (see example). For all other versions, the Plesk version life cycle table below applies.
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39The table below lists all operating systems on which you can install a supported version of Plesk, which also receive updates and support from the OS vendor. Consult [Software Requirements section of the Plesk release notes](https://docs.plesk.com/release-notes/onyx/software-requirements/) for more information on OS compatibility of a particular Plesk release.
26_**Example:**_ Plesk 18.0.15 is installed by the user as fresh instance. After one month, if the user decides to install a fresh instance of Plesk, its version will be 18.0.16, meaning that the user will not even find the older version 18.0.15. At the same time, version 18.0.15 will continue to be supported until version 18.0.17 is released. In this example, version 18.0.17 is the latest update, while version 18.0.16 is the preceding update.
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41| Operating System | Vendor Termination Date |
42| --- | --- |
43| CentOS 7 | June 30, 2024 |
44| Ubuntu 18.04 Server LTS | April 26, 2023 |
45| Debian 9 | June 17, 2022 |
46| RedHat Enterprise Linux 7 | June 30, 2024 (end of production phase) |
47| CloudLinux 7 | June 30, 2024 |
48| Windows Server 2019 | TBD |
49| Windows Server 2016 | TBD |
50| CentOS 6 | November 30, 2020 |
51| Ubuntu 16.04 Server LTS | April 21, 2021 |
52| Debian 8 | June 30, 2020 |
53| RedHat Enterprise Linux 6 | June 30, 2024 |
54| RedHat Enterprise Linux 5 | November 30, 2020 |
55| CloudLinux 6 | November 30, 2020 |
56| Windows Server 2012 R2 | January 10, 2023 |
57| Windows Server 2012 | January 10, 2023 |
58| Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 | January 14, 2020 |
59| Windows Server 2008 SP2 | January 14, 2020 |
28\*In terms of **Plesk Onyx**, **Extended Support** is a 4-year period, after which the product will no longer be available for new purchases and will only receive patches for critical issues. The Extended Support Period is six (6) months.
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61<table><tbody><tr><td></td><td>Recommended versions*</td></tr></tbody></table>
30\*\***End-of-Life**: Once the Extended Support period is over, the product will stop receiving further development (including critical patches), and technical support requests will no longer be accepted.
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63\* We recommend using the latest supported version of an operating system when deploying a new server. This is because a server with such OS has the longest potential lifetime before its OS Vendor Termination Date.
32\*\*\* Starting from this date, Plesk begins accepting technical support requests for Plesk Obsidian Release Candidates (RC). Actual release date for Plesk Obsidian will be announced separately.
6433
65### Unsupported OSes
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67Plesk does not accept support requests and will not issue software patches for servers with OSes, that are not listed in the table above or if their Vendor Termination Date is past due.
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69If your Plesk version is approaching its End of Life phase or operating system is approaching its Vendor Termination Date, we recommend migrating your Plesk to the latest Plesk version and a newer supported operating system.
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71If you need migration instructions, advice, or if you would prefer to let Plesk professionals handle the migration for you, visit our [Professional Services page.](https://www.plesk.com/professional-services)
34\*\*\*\* The upgrade path for Small Business Panel customers involves a migration to Plesk 10, where these products were merged.