Oracle Linux Lifecycle: End Of Life And Support Status

Last updated on January 25, 2024

Oracle Linux is an open-source operating system derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Oracle Linux is the operating system used for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Oracle Linux is 100% application binary compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Support status guide

End of life (EOL) is the end of a product’s useful life. When a product reaches the end of its life cycle, the manufacturer no longer supports it. The following table explains the different phases of a product’s lifecycle. Testing status is when the product is initially released and EOL is when product support is no longer offered. The time between these two points is the support timeframe.

Testing

The software is not yet publicly available. It is in testing phase i.e., alpha, beta, release preview etc.

Active

The software is actively supported by the vendor.

Phasing Out

The software will soon reach its end of life. You need to look for upgrade or migration options. The software will automatically go into phasing out status 2 months before end of life.

End Of Life

The software is no longer supported by the vendor. You need to make sure your system and environment are safe.

Version

Released

Basic/Premier Support

Extended Support

Oracle Linux 9
2 years and 3 months ago
(6 July 2022)
Ends in 7 years and 8 months
(30 June 2032)
Ends in 9 years and 8 months
(30 June 2034)
Oracle Linux 8
5 years and 2 months ago
(19 July 2019)
Ends in 4 years and 8 months
(1 July 2029)
Ends in 6 years and 8 months
(1 July 2031)
Oracle Linux 7
10 years and 2 months ago
(23 July 2014)
Ends in 1 month and 2 weeks
(1 December 2024)
Ends in 1 year and 7 months
(1 June 2026)
Oracle Linux 6
13 years and 7 months ago
(12 February 2011)
Ended 3 years and 7 months ago
(1 March 2021)
Ends in 1 month and 2 weeks
(1 December 2024)

Point releases are not supported by Oracle Linux, in contrast to RHEL, once a newer version becomes available. For customers to continue getting security updates, they must update to the most recent minor point release, and the older version is instantly considered to reach the end of support.

Oracle offers different kinds of support for Oracle Database. This is what the offer:

  • Basic Support: Available for 10 years for Oracle Database versions 5-9. Includes patches, bug fixes, security patches, and security alerts.
  • Premier Support: Available for 10 years for versions 5-9 from date of release. Includes access to patches, fixes, security patches, security alerts, and live kernel patching.
  • Extended Support: Offered for a limited time after the end of the Premier Support. This includes patches and fixes for critical security errata and select high-impact critical bug fixes, as well as live kernel patching. Updates are limited to select packages.
  • Sustaining Support: Offered after the end of Extended support. Does not include any new security fixes or alerts.

By default, Oracle Linux does not use the same kernel upstream RHEL uses, instead they support their own kernel builds called UEK which may not be compatible with upstream kernels. As an alternative, a Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK) is used.

In comparison to RHEL, Oracle Linux offers different tenures for support and charges an extra fee for Extended support.

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