Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes
Overview
Red Hat has established specific lifecycle policies for Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes so customers and partners can effectively plan, deploy, and support their infrastructure. Red Hat publishes this lifecycle to provide as much transparency as possible and might make exceptions from these policies as conflicts arise. All released errata will remain accessible to active subscribers across the entire lifecycle of a major version.
Details
Customers are expected to upgrade Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes to the most current supported version of the product in a timely fashion. Bug fixes and features are targeted for the latest versions of the product (Full Support Phase), though some allowance may be given for critical security risk items for the prior release (Maintenance Support Phase). The Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes Support Lifecycle Phases are described here:
Lifecycle Phases
This lifecycle encompasses stated support phases, delimited by the minor releases of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes. The lifecycle for a new version (for example, 2.0) or for each minor version (for example, 2.1) of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes is split into production phases, each identifying the various levels of maintenance over a period of time from the initial release date.
Full Support
Full support is provided according to the published Scope of Coverage [^1] and Service Level Agreement [^2]. Likewise, development support is provided according to the published Scope of Coverage and Service Level Agreement.
During the Full Support Phase, qualified Critical and Important Security Advisories (RHSAs) and Urgent and Selected High Priority Bug Fix advisories (RHBAs) will be released as they become available. All other available fixes and qualified patches may be released through periodic updates. Customers are expected to upgrade their Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes environment to the most current supported minor version. On request, and at the discretion of Red Hat, qualified Critical Security errata advisories (RHSAs) and Critical Bug Fix errata advisories (RHBAs) may be made available for non-current minor versions.
Maintenance Support
During the Maintenance Support phase, qualified Critical and Important Security Advisories (RHSAs) will be released as they become available. Urgent and Selected High Priority Bug Fix Advisories (RHBAs) will be released as they become available. Other Bug Fix (and Enhancement (RHEA) Advisories may be released at Red Hat’s discretion, but should not be expected.
Extended Update Support Term 1
Commencing with Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11, Red Hat will denote specific releases (eg 2.11) as Extended Update Support (EUS) releases. EUS Term 1 is included with both ACM Standard and Premium offerings.
For an EUS release, the aforementioned Full and Maintenance support phases are applied with the same conditions to trigger the start and end date for each phase of a release. Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes EUS releases provide backports of Critical and Important impact security updates and urgent-priority bug fixes for a predefined set of minor releases of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes. EUS enables customers to remain with the same release of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes, for longer periods of time, allowing for stable production environments for mission-critical applications.
Extended Update Support Term 2
Support through the Additional EUS Term 2 phase is an optional Add-On subscription available to Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes customers. With Additional EUS Term 2, Red Hat provides backports of Critical and Important impact security updates and urgent-priority bug fixes for Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes as denoted on the Operator Life Cycle page. Additional EUS Term 2 enables for longer periods of time, allowing for stable production environments for mission-critical applications.
Layered and Dependent Components
Please contact your Red Hat Sales Representative if you are unsure if you have access to EUS or EUS Term 2, and to help decide if it is appropriate for your environment.
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes provides the flexibility to use or connect to technologies provided by Red Hat, our partners or third-party vendors. All dependent technologies may maintain an independent lifecycle from Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes. As a result, it is important that you check with the technology providers to see how that technology is tested, certified and supported.
Lifecycle Dates for Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes
Scope of Coverage
Support will be provided for use according to the published Scope of Coverage in Appendix 1 of the Red Hat Enterprise Agreement.
Service level agreements are available at: Red Hat Enterprise Service Level Agreement.
Support matrices are available at:
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes version 2.12 support matrix
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes version 2.11 support matrix
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes version 2.10 support matrix
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes version 2.9 support matrix
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes version 2.8 support matrix
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes version 2.7 support matrix
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes version 2.6 support matrix
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes version 2.5 support matrix