Cisco IOS Software Product Lifecycle Dates & Milestones [Cisco IOS Software Releases 12.4 T]

PB2214

Last Updated: February 2010

The Cisco IOS® Software release product lifecycle establishes the policies and milestones for Cisco IOS Software releases. These policies and milestones facilitate the Cisco IOS Software release selection process for deploying technologies during the supported software product lifespan, and provide migration path options for a proactive and streamlined software upgrade before a release reaches end of software maintenance.

Releases covered by the Cisco IOS Software release product lifecycle defined in this document include Releases 12.4, 12.4T, 12.2SR, 12.2SB, 12.2SE, 12.2SG, 12.2S, and 12.0S. This document provides clarity for these release product lifecycles, but does not change any Cisco standard end-of-life policies, located at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_end-of-life_policy.html.

Software maintenance for Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2SX is defined in the following document: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps708/prod_bulletin0900aecd804f0694.html.

The Cisco IOS Software Product Lifecycle policy does not apply to special releases or other engineering only (non-TAC) supported releases. These types of releases generally have a much shorter lifecycle for software maintenance support. Contact your Cisco representative for more information regarding these types of releases, and refer to the Cisco Product & Services support page on Cisco.com to obtain additional information specific to your hardware platform http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/index.html.

Hardware-specific Cisco IOS Software maintenance policies and hardware end-of-sale announcements (including hardware platforms ending software support on a specific Cisco IOS release) may affect respective release image availability. These policies, announcements, and dates take precedence over the milestones defined in this document. To obtain hardware end-of-sale and end-of-life announcements, visit http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/prod_end_of_life.html.

Figure 1 illustrates the key milestones in the Cisco IOS Software Product Lifecycle, including First Customer Shipment, End of Sale Announcement, End of Sales, End of Software Maintenance (formerly, End of Engineering), and Last Date of Support. Cisco IOS Software releases receive software fixes and standard software maintenance support between First Customer Shipment and End of Software Maintenance milestone dates.

Cisco IOS Software Release Product Lifecycle Milestones

Figure 1. Cisco IOS Software Product Lifecycle Milestones

• First Customer Shipment (FCS): The day the release is first available to customers on Cisco.com

• End of Sale (EoS) Announcement: Notification of the upcoming End of Sale date for the release. This milestone occurs six months prior to the actual End of Sale date.

• End of Sales (EoS): The day the release is no longer orderable or included in manufacturing shipments of Cisco hardware. End of Sales is up to 36 months from the First Customer Shipment date.

• End of Software Maintenance (EoSW): This is the last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or software fixes for the release. End of Software Maintenance is 1 year (12 months) beyond the End of Sale date, and does not exceed 4 years (48 months) from the First Customer Shipment (FCS) date. Support for a release beyond the End of Software Maintenance date is provided via successor supported releases as shown in Table 1 and Table 2 below.

• Last Date of Support: The last date to receive Cisco TAC service and support for the release. After this date, all support services for the release are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete. Software bugfix support for a release beyond End of Software Maintenance (EoSW) until the last date of support is provided via successor supported releases shown in Table 1 and Table 2 below.

Table 1 below lists the Cisco IOS Software release lifecycle details for Releases 12.4, 12.4T, 12.3, 12.3T, 12.2, 12.2T, 12.1, and 12.1E. For inquiries regarding the projected lifecycle of a release not listed please contact your Cisco representative.

Table 1. Releases 12.4, 12.4T, 12.3, 12.3T, 12.2, 12.2T, 12.1, and 12.1E Lifecycle Dates and Milestones
(Updated: February, 2010)

Release	End of Sale Announcement Date	End of Sale Date	End of Software Maintenance Date	Migration Path
Release 12.1E	9/15/2006 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1833/prod_eol_notice0900aecd8052e0f5.html	3/15/2007	3/15/2008	Footnote 1
Release 12.4	1/12/2010 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6968/ps6350/end_of_life_notice_c51-574251.html	1/12/2011 Software maintenance and bug fix support on Release 12.4 will be provided through rebuilds of Release 12.4(25) until the End of Software Maintenance Releases Date milestone defined below is reached.	1/12/2012	Release 15.0(1)M or later supported releases. Footnote 2
Release 12.4(15)T	1/12/2010 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6968/ps6441/end_of_life_notice_c51-574250.html	1/12/2011	1/12/2012	Release 15.0(1)M or later supported releases. Footnote 2
Releases 12.4(2)T, 12.4(4)T, 12.4(6)T, 12.4(9)T, and 12.4(11)T	7/1/2009 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6968/ps6441/end_of_life_notice_c51-545733.html	7/1/2009 This date also marks end of engineering, maintenance rebuilds, and software fixes through rebuilds of Releases 12.4(2)T, 12.4(4)T, 12.4(6)T, 12.4(9)T, and 12.4(11)T. After this date, maintenance rebuilds and software-fix support will be provided only through rebuilds of Release 12.4(15)T, Release 15.0(1)M, or later supported release.	7/1/2009	Release 15,0(1)M or later supported releases. Footnote 2
Releases 12.4(20)T and 12.4(22)T	7/1/2009 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6968/ps6441/end_of_life_notice_c51-548879.html	12/30/2009 After this date, maintenance rebuilds and software-fix support will be provided only through rebuilds of Release 15.0(1)M or later supported release.	6/30/2010 Engineering maintenance rebuilds and software-fix support for Releases 12.4(20)T and 12.4(22)T will be provided only through rebuilds of Release 15.0(1)M or later supported release.	Release 15.0(1)M or later supported releases.
Release12.3	9/15/2006 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps5187/prod_eol_notice0900aecd8052e110.html	3/15/2007	3/15/2008	Release, 15.0(1)M or later supported releases. Footnote 2 Footnote 3
Release 12.3T	12/7/2005 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps5207/prod_bulletin0900aecd803a0ffe.html	6/7/2006	6/7/2007	Release, 15.0(1)M or later supported releases. Footnote 2 Footnote 3
Release 12.2	9/19/2005 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1835/prod_eol_notice0900aecd80330813.html	3/19/2006	3/19/2007	Release, 15.0(1)M or later supported releases. Footnote 2 Footnote 3
Release 12.2T	5/30/2003 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1839/prod_eol_notice09186a0080186d83.html	11/30/2003	11/30/2004	Release, 15.0(1)M or later supported releases. Footnote 2 Footnote 3
Release 12.1	12/12/2003 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1831/prod_eol_notice09186a008032d55c.html	6/12/2004	2/12/2005	Release, 15.0(1)M or later supported releases. Footnote 2 Footnote 3

Table 2 below lists the Cisco IOS Software release lifecycle milestones for Releases 12.0S, 12.2S, 12.2SB, 12.2SR, and 12.2SX. For inquiries regarding the projected lifecycle of a release not listed please contact your Cisco representative.

Table 2. Release 12.0S, 12.2S, 12.2SB, 12.2SR, and 12.2SX Lifecycle Dates and Milestones (Updated: February, 2010)

Release	End of Sale Announcement Date	End of Sale Date	End of Software Maintenance Date	Migration Path
Release 12.2S	6/19/2006 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1838/prod_eol_notice0900aecd804be5cf.html	12/12/2006	12/12/2007	Footnote 4
Release 12.2(27)SB	5/1/2006 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6970/ps1838/prod_end-of-life_notice0900aecd80481a49_ps352_Products_End-of-Life_Notice.html	11/1/2006	11/1/2007	Footnote 4
12.2(28)SB	4/28/2008 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6970/ps1838/end_of_life_notice_c51-462739.html	1/27/2009	1/27/2010	Footnote 4
12.2(31)SB	12/28/2009 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6970/ps1838/end_of_life_notice_c51-574179.html	6/28/2010	6/28/2011	Footnote 4
12.2(33)SRC	12/15/2009 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6970/ps6922/end_of_life_notice_c51-571251.html	6/14/2010	6/14/2010	Footnote 4
12.2(33)SRB	1/7/2009 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/routers/ps368/end_of_life_notice_c51-507197.html	7/8/2009	1/8/2010	Footnote 4
12.2(33)SRA	3/22/2008 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6970/ps6922/end_of_life_notice_c51-462914.html	9/20/2008	3/20/2009	Footnote 4
12.2(18)SXF	8/31/2009 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6970/ps6017/end_of_life_c51-568765.html	2/27/2010	Refer to the 12.2(18)SXF EOS/EOL Product Bulletin for detailed information.	Footnote 4
12.2SX Releases prior to 12.2(18)SXF	Cisco IOS Software releases prior to 12.2(18)SXF for the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series have all reached End of Critical Maintenance. These include 12.2(17)SXB, 12.2(18)SXD and 12.2(18)SXE releases. Refer to the following bulletin for more information: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps708/prod_bulletin0900aecd804f0694.html
12.0(2)S through 12.0(25)S	9/17/2007 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1829/prod_eol_notice0900aecd806caed8.html	3/15/2008	3/15/2009	Footnote 4
12.0(26)S through 12.0(31)S	9/17/2007 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1829/prod_eol_notice0900aecd806caed8.html	9/16/2008	9/16/2009	Footnote 4
Release 12.0(32)S	1/31/2009 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps1829/end_of_life_notice_c51-518699.html	1/31/2010	1/31/2012	Footnote 4

Additional Information

• Cisco IOS Software Releases: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/products_ios_cisco_ios_software_releases.html

• Cisco Software Download Page: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/download/index.html

• Cisco Feature Navigator: http://tools.cisco.com/ITDIT/CFN/jsp/index.jsp

• Cisco Software Advisor: http://tools.cisco.com/Support/Fusion/FusionHome.do

• Cisco Products and Services End-of-Life Policy: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_end-of-life_policy.html

• Product End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcements: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/prod_end_of_life.html

• Cisco Product and Services Security Advisories: http://www.cisco.com/go/psirt

Footnote 1. The migration path for this release is hardware dependent. Refer to the End of Sale and End of Life Announcement for Cisco IOS Software Release 12.1E Product Bulletin for more information http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1833/prod_eol_notice0900aecd8052e0f5.html. When upgrading to a more recent release, certain software images may not be available, hardware may or may not be supported, or memory requirements may have changed. Always consult the Cisco Software Advisor and Cisco Feature Navigator to verify critical functionality and release support on platforms.

Footnote 2. Cisco IOS Software Releases 12.4 and 12.4(15)T are the last software releases to support specific Cisco hardware platforms. Release 15.0(1)M does not support these Cisco hardware platforms. The list below defines the affected Cisco hardware platforms. See Product Bulletin 466578 for more details on the affected Cisco hardware platforms and their end-of-life announcements: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps6968/ps6441/product_bulletin_c25_466578.html.

• Cisco SOHO 90 Series

• Cisco 831, 836, and 837 Series

• Cisco 850 Series

• Cisco 1701, 1711, 1712, 1721, 1751, 1751-V,and 1760 Series

• Cisco 2610XM-2611XM, 2620XM-2621XM, 2650XM-2651XM, and 2691 Series

• Cisco 3631 and 3660 Series

• Cisco 3725 and 3745 Series

• Cisco 7400 Series

• Cisco AS5850 Universal Gateway

Footnote 3: Releases 12.4 and the majority of 12.4T releases have been announced end of sale. Customers are strongly encouraged to migrate to Cisco IOS Software Release 15.0(1)M (or later supported releases) where possible (see Footnote 2). While IOS 12.4(24)T is also a viable migration option, end of sale for IOS 12.4(24)T is planned for the 1st half calendar year 2010. It is highly recommended to migrate to 15.0(1)M due the pending end of life activities on 12.4(24)T over the next few months. When upgrading to a more recent release, certain software images may not be available, hardware may or may not be supported, or memory requirements may have changed. Always consult the Cisco Software Advisor and Cisco Feature Navigator to verify critical functionality and release support on platforms.

Footnote 4: The migration path for this release is hardware dependent. Refer to the end of sale and end of life product bulletin for the specific release for more information. When upgrading to a more recent release, certain software images may not be available, hardware may or may not be supported, or memory requirements may have changed. Always consult the Cisco Software Advisor and Cisco Feature Navigator to verify critical functionality and release support on platforms.

Hierarchical Navigation

Cisco IOS Software Releases 12.4 T

Cisco IOS Software Product Lifecycle Dates & Milestones

Downloads