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
(6 July 2022)
(30 June 2032)
(30 June 2034)
(19 July 2019)
(1 July 2029)
(1 July 2031)
(23 July 2014)
(1 December 2024)
(1 June 2026)
(12 February 2011)
(1 March 2021)
(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.
EOLs
