MySQL Lifecycle Policy

MySQL Lifecycle Policy
MySQL Lifecycle Calendar
MySQL Lifecycle FAQ

MySQL Lifecycle Policy

Sun's MySQL Lifecycle Policy ("Policy") provides specific guidelines and timeframes for support during the product's lifecycle ("Production Lifecycle Support") and the product's end-of-life (EOL¹). The Policy is designed to provide customers with predictable and flexible rules for planning purposes. The Policy provides defined support timeframes and extension options which allow customers to operate under a supported version of the server for multiple years and to plan upgrade paths.

This Policy applies to the MySQL Database Server (as part of the MySQL Enterprise Subscription, MySQL Cluster and OEM offerings) and Commercial Software (as defined in the MySQL Enterprise Subscription Agreement). This Policy applies to any Sun entity providing support for Sun's MySQL product line (collectively "Sun").

The Policy for Production Lifecycle Support is as follows:

1. For each Major Release (as defined below), the product lifecycle is classified in 2 tiers:
   1. Active Lifecycle period: The initial two year (24 months) period, beginning on the date of General Availability (GA), and expiring on the last day of the 24th month ("Active Lifecycle"). Active Lifecycle support is included in Sun's standard MySQL Commercial Support offerings. Active Lifecycle support includes the following characteristics:
      1. Source Branch: Under Active Development
      2. Security Updates: Goal is to fix known security vulnerabilities as reported by customers.
      3. Bug Fixes: Goal is to fix known Severity 1, 2 and 3 issues as reported by customers.
      4. New Binaries: Releases on a regular and predictable basis (as defined by Sun).
   2. Extended Lifecycle period: The three year (36 month) period beginning on the date the Active Lifecycle ends, and expiring on the last day of the 36th month ("Extended Lifecycle"). Extended Lifecycle support includes the following characteristics:
      1. Source Branch: Not under active development
      2. Security Updates: Goal is to fix known security vulnerabilities as reported by customers.
      3. Bug Fixes: Goal is to fix known Severity 1 issues as reported by customers
      4. New Binaries: Released only occasionally on an as-needed basis (as determined by Sun).
   3. "Major Release" means a new generally-available release of a product that typically includes major new features and/or enhancements as designated by Sun in the MySQL Lifecycle Calendar table below.
2. The Production Lifecycle Support period for a Major Release, as covered by the combined Active Lifecycle and Extended Lifecycle periods, will be 5 years (60 months) beginning on date of General Availability.
3. The above Active Lifecycle and Extended Lifecycle periods:
   1. Apply to all Maintenance Releases (as defined below) that are released under the same Major Release branch, and
   2. Do not restart each time there is a new Maintenance Release.
   3. "Maintenance Release" means a new generally-available release of a Major Release version of a product that typically includes fixes and perhaps new features or enhancements that is not itself designated by Sun as a Major Release in the MySQL Lifecycle Calendar table below.
4. Support beyond the Extended Lifecycle period is available by purchasing MySQL Vintage Support. For further information, please contact the MySQL Sales Team.
5. If third party platform, hardware and operating system providers End-of-Life (EOL) older releases of their products, customers may find that specific components within their environmental stack are no longer supported by one or more of the original manufacturers. In these cases, Sun reserves the right to limit or terminate Active Lifecycle or Extended Lifecycle support of its products used in such unsupported configurations.
6. There may be exceptions to this Policy for products with third party content where the content provider will not support the MySQL Lifecycle Policy. To understand the support information for a specific third party product, consult with your MySQL Sales Team.
7. Sun considers the stability of a GA release to be extremely important. In some cases, fixing a bug requires extensive or risky changes to the code, or the proper fix depends on features not available in an earlier version, or the risk of fixing the bug in an older version outweighs the benefit of fixing the bug. In these cases, Sun will fix the bug only in a later version in order to avoid destabilizing GA releases.

MySQL Lifecycle Calendar

Since each Major Release can have multiple Maintenance Releases, Sun maintains and provides build-level support and internal installations for the most current Maintenance Releases of each version. Customers are encouraged to be on the most current Maintenance Release to receive the highest level of Production Lifecycle Support.

Lifecycle Calendar:

Major Release GA Versions of MySQL Database Server	GA Date	Active Support Ends	Extended Support Ends
3.23	2001-01-17	2006-07-31	2006-12-31
4.0	2003-03-15	2006-09-30	2008-09-30
4.1	2004-10-23	2006-12-31	2009-12-31
5.0	2005-10-24	2009-12-31	2011-12-31
5.1	2008-12-08	2010-12-15	2013-12-31

MySQL Lifecycle Policy FAQ

How do I buy Production Lifecycle Support for MySQL products?

MySQL offers a full range of support offerings. Please contact the MySQL Sales Team.

What is the MySQL Lifecycle Policy?

This MySQL Lifecycle Policy provides specific guidelines and timeframes for Production Lifecycle Support and Product End-of-Service-Life (EOS¹). The Policy is designed to provide customers with predictable and flexible rules for planning purposes. This Policy provides defined support timeframes and extension options which allow customers to operate under a supported version of the server for multiple years and to plan upgrade paths.

When does the MySQL Lifecycle Policy take effect?

The Policy officially took effect on Monday, 2006-July-10. This was the date that all of the supporting external content was posted to http://www.mysql.com/company/legal/.

What MySQL products are covered?

The MySQL support lifecycle policy covers:

This Policy covers the MySQL Database Server (as part of the MySQL Enterprise Subscription, MySQL Cluster and OEM offerings) and Commercial Software (as defined in the MySQL Enterprise Subscription Agreement).

What is the difference between Active Lifecycle and Extended Lifecycle support?

Active Lifecycle is characterized by a regular maintenance schedule that helps to ensure most customer reported issues, of all severity levels, are fixed and available on a regular and predictable basis. This helps to ensure that customers have the option to implement the most current version of the product allowing for the highest level of Production Lifecycle Support.

Extended Lifecycle support is provided to help ensure that customers who have standardized on a specific version of the product can receive Production Lifecycle Support for multiple years. Under Extended Lifecycle support, maintenance releases are only provided on a when-needed basis, and only to fix Security and Severity Level 1 incidents.

Extended Lifecycle support requires Sun to bear incrementally higher costs of maintaining older versions of the MySQL product. To cover for these additional costs, Extended Lifecycle support is only available with certain MySQL Commercial Support offerings.

Item	Active Lifecycle (Years 1-2 After GA)	Extended Lifecycle (Years 3-5 After GA)
Source Branch	Under Active Development	Not under Active Development
Security Updates	Goal is to fix known security vulnerabilities as reported by customers	Goal is to fix known security vulnerabilities as reported by customers
Bug Fix	Goal is to fix known Severity 1, 2, or 3 issues as reported by customers	Goal is to fix known Severity 1 issues as reported by customers
New Binaries	Releases on a regular and predictable basis (as determined by Sun)	Released only occasionally on an as-needed basis (as determined by Sun)

Sun considers the stability of a GA release to be extremely important. In some cases, fixing a bug requires extensive or risky changes to the code, or the proper fix depends on features not available in an earlier version, or the risk of fixing the bug in an older version outweighs the benefit of fixing the bug. In these cases, Sun will fix the bug only in a later version in order to avoid destabilizing GA releases.

What MySQL Enterprise subscription and OEM Support levels are required to be covered by Active Lifecycle and Extended Lifecycle support?

Timeframe	MySQL Enterprise coverage	OEM Support coverage
Active Lifecycle	Included with all levels: Basic, Silver, Gold, Platinum	Included with all levels: Basic, Silver, Gold
Extended Lifecyclee	Only included with: Silver, Gold, Platinum	Only included with: Silver, Gold

Will products in Extended Lifecycle support be ported to new platforms?

Only Active Lifecycle products are candidates for porting to new platforms. Extended Lifecycle products are on their way to becoming EOLed, and will not be ported to new platforms.

What is the Maximum Timeframe during which Production Support is available?

The Maximum Timeframe during which standard Production Lifecycle Support is available is five years:

• Active Lifecycle: 2 years (24 months), plus
• Extended Lifecycle: 3 years (36 months)
• Total Production Lifecycle: 5 years (60 months)

What if I need support beyond the Extended Lifecycle period?

Support past the Extended Lifecycle period may be available by purchasing MySQL Vintage Support. Please contact Sun's MySQL Sales Team.

Does the MySQL Lifecycle Policy allow for MySQL Enterprise or OEM customers who have unique support requirements?

Exceptions to the core Policy will require a Custom Agreement - with explicit specification of the terms and timeframes. Please contact the MySQL Sales Team.

Will Sun continue to provide Production Lifecycle Support for MySQL on Platforms, Hardware, or Operating Systems where the respective vendors have End-of-Lifed those products?

MySQL reserves the right to limit or terminate Active or Extended Lifecycle support of its products used on such unsupported configurations (where the Platform or Hardware or Operating System has been retired/obsoleted by the provider).

Will active MySQL Enterprise customers who were at the basic subscription level on 2006-July-10 get support for releases that are under Extended Lifecycle support?

Yes. MySQL Enterprise customers who have been continuously at the basic subscription level from 2006-July-10 to the date that this Policy was most recently updated will continue receiving support for versions of MySQL products under Extended Lifecycle support until their MySQL Enterprise subscription is up for renewal. Upon renewal, these customers will need to upgrade to Silver, Gold or Platinum, at the prevailing subscription rates, to continue on with Extended Lifecycle support.

What about new MySQL Enterprise subscriptions?

New MySQL Enterprise subscriptions will be governed by these Policy guidelines.

What considerations will be given to active OEM customers with existing contracts?

1. Existing OEM support agreements as of the date of this Policy will be honored through their terms.
2. Renewals for OEM contracts existing as of the date this Policy was most recently updated will not require customers to upgrade to OEM Silver or Gold levels to gain Extended Lifecycle support.

What about new OEM customers and contracts?

New OEM contracts entered into after the date this Policy will be governed by these Policy guidelines.

How will active customers and users be notified when product support is scheduled to end?

Sun will endeavor to proactively notify active customers and users of MySQL Lifecycle events, including:

• Intentions to EOL specific versions of the product
• Platform, Hardware, and Operating Systems that are scheduled for EOL by the original manufacturer.

The following communications channels will be used:

• Proactive notifications to MySQL Customers via:
  • Email
  • Alerts
• Proactive communications to the MySQL Community via:
  • PlanetMySQL Blogs
  • Community Forums
  • Community Mailing Lists
• Public website
  • http://www.mysql.com/

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¹ For Sun's MySQL line of products, EOL and End of Service Life (or EOSL), as described in the lifecycle policies for other Sun products, occur at the same.

Policy Date: July 7, 2009