SUSE Linux Enterprise
Support Lifecycle for SUSE Linux Enterprise Platform Products
| Feature | General Support | Extended Support | ||
| Year 1-4 | Year 5 | Year 6-7 | Year 8-10 | |
| Enhancement Requests | yes | no | no | no |
| Hardware Enablement/Optimization | yes | yes1 | no | no |
| Defect Resolution | yes | yes | yes2 | optional |
| Critical Security Updates | yes | yes | yes | optional |
| Technical Support | yes | yes | yes | optional |
| Novell Support Advisor | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Access to Patches and Fixes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Access to Novell Knowledgebase | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Access to Support Forums | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Technical Subscriptions | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Access to Documentation | yes | yes | yes | yes |
1 Limited. Based on partner and customer requests.
2 Limited. Severity Level 1 and 2 defects only.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Platform Product Lifecycle
Novell provides SUSE® Linux Enterprise Platform Products customers with ten years of support and maintenance options for each major release of the SUSE Linux Enterprise product.
+ Detailed Product Support Lifecycle information
General Support
The General Support phase for SUSE Linux Enterprise Platform Products is seven years, beginning on the first date of general availability for a product. During the general support phase, Novell provides updates for improving the stability and performance of the platform, addressing security vulnerabilities, enabling hardware and enhancing features requested by our customers.
Novell generally releases service packs every 12 to 18 months. Once a new service pack is released, we provide the industry standard six-month window in which we continue to deliver the critical support you need for the previous service pack, while you plan for, test and implement the new service pack release.
If your data center requires additional time to adequately design, validate and test your execution plans, we offer Long Term Service Pack Support.
Extended Support
When the General Support phase ends, the product moves to the Extended Support phase. The Extended Support phase for SUSE Linux Enterprise Platform Products is 3 years. During the Extended Support phase, and with the purchase of Long Term Service Pack Support, customers with specialized environments may keep their configuration as is and receive full support as well as critical security updates and bug fixes.
Program Temporary Fix (PTF)
PTFs are created as needed to address a specific customer related issue. As customers report issues against the product, Novell will evaluate what is necessary to address the issue and release the fix as a PTF to the end customer. If Novell determines the issue may impact multiple customers, it will consolidate the PTF into a maintenance update for public release. As with maintenance updates, PTFs are created against previously released maintenance updates.
Simplified Maintenance
Now you can have more freedom to choose which packages you want to update and which you prefer to defer, while maintaining full support of your current system. Beginning with SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 SP1, Novell will release updates as soon as they become available without having to wait for a Service Pack. These ABI/API compatible updates become available for download as soon as they are ready for those who desire or need to be on the latest package; however, customers are not required to incorporate these latest updates to be fully supported.
This change will provide several benefits to the customer:
- Access to the latest packages without having to wait for the Service Pack
- Lightweight Service Packs that are quicker to validate and faster to deploy
- Freedom to defer non ABI/API updates while maintaining full support from Novell
For customers who still need more time or wish to defer any update all together, Long Term Service Pack Support provides the backing and support data centers depend on.
Self-Support
Self-support options are offered from the first date of general availability for a product and will remain available for a minimum of 10 years. Get more details on the available self-support options.
+ Support Lifecycle FAQ