Software Lifecycle Support Statement - Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO)

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Updated:May 7, 2024

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The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.

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Updated:May 7, 2024
 

 

What You Will Learn

This software lifecycle support statement describes the release and support timeline and support guidelines for Cisco NSO Software. Prior to Cisco NSO v5.X, please refer to the section at the end of this document.

Cisco NSO Software is a time-based release model that delivers two to three releases each year. This approach enables Cisco to introduce stable and feature rich Software releases in a reliable and predictable cadence.

Cisco NSO Software Release Delivery

Cisco is introducing an updated software release delivery model and specific EoL guidelines with the NSO v5.X Software release. These updated EOL guidelines will apply specifically to the primary NSO Server licenses, which will no longer be released for each new minor version. Additional EOL announcements may be released for other NSO components, such as Network Element Drivers (NEDs), Core Function Packs (CFPs) and/or device right-to-manage licenses.

The Cisco NSO Software Release Train model provides a distinct release vehicle combining to regularly deliver new features two to three times each year with regular maintenance releases for fixes. The schedule specifies two to three individual software releases within a 12-month cycle. This cadence is repeated every year.

End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Guideline Definition

The Cisco NSO v5.X Release is the first Release that will adhere to the guidelines presented here.

      The minor NSO versions v5.1, v5.2, v5.3… will continue to be released two to three times per year.

      The EOL timeline, per the guidelines in Table 1, for minor NSO releases will begin at the FCS of each subsequent minor release. For example, upon FCS of NSO v5.2, the EOL timeline will begin for NSO v5.1. Upon FCS of NSO v5.3, the EOL timeline will begin for NSO v5.2.

      There will no longer separate EOL announcements for these minor versions.

      Cisco NSO Software releases (NSO 5.X, 6.X…) will be active and available for download (minor versions also) until the EOL announcement is published as per the guidelines in Table 1.

      EOL announcement will only be published for major Cisco NSO Software releases (NSO 5.X, 6.X…)

      Customers are encouraged to migrate to Cisco NSO’s most recent release when the release becomes available. NSO Customer’s with an active Cisco NSO Support contract are eligible to download the latest releases from Cisco Software Download

 

Cisco NSO Software Support Until NSO 5.6

Cisco NSO Software Releases (NSO 5.X, until NSO 5.6) will be supported for 42 months after the EOL announcement goes out for it. Customers with active service contracts will continue to receive support from the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) as shown in Table 1 above. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

Table 1 summarizes the End-of-Sale and EoL milestones for Cisco NSO Software release (NSO 5.X, until NSO 5.6)

Table 1.        Cisco NSO Software End-of-Sale and End-of-Life milestones by Release (NSO 5.X, 6.X…)

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date the document that announces the end of sale and end of life of a product is distributed to the general public.

Will begin at FCS of each subsequent minor release.

End-of-Sale (EoS) Date

The last date to order the product through Cisco point-of-sale mechanisms. The product is no longer for sale after this date.

Six (6) months from End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement date

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

Note:  After this date, Cisco Engineering will only provide fixes for Security Vulnerabilities as per the EoVS milestone timeframe.

Twelve (12) months after EoS date.

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

Thirty six (36) months after EoS date.

Table 2.        Release Support Timeline for Release 5.1

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

July 7, 2019

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

Note: After this date, Cisco Engineering will only provide fixes for Security Vulnerabilities as per the EoVS milestone timeframe.

January 7, 2021

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

January 31, 2023

Table 3.        Release Support Timeline for Release 5.2

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

December 25, 2019

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

Note: After this date, Cisco Engineering will only provide fixes for Security Vulnerabilities as per the EoVS milestone timeframe.

June 25, 2021

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

June 30, 2023

Table 4.        Release Support Timeline for Release 5.3

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

July 7, 2020

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

Note: After this date, Cisco Engineering will only provide fixes for Security Vulnerabilities as per the EoVS milestone timeframe.

January 7, 2022

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

January 31, 2024

Table 5.        Release Support Timeline for Release 5.4

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

November 30, 2020

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

Note: After this date, Cisco Engineering will only provide fixes for Security Vulnerabilities as per the EoVS milestone timeframe.

May 30. 2022

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

May 31, 2024

Table 6.        Release Support Timeline for Release 5.5

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

September 30, 2021

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

Note: After this date, Cisco Engineering will only provide fixes for Security Vulnerabilities as per the EoVS milestone timeframe.

Mar 30. 2023

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

Mar 31, 2025

Table 7.        Release Support Timeline for Release 5.6

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

December 17, 2021

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

Note: After this date, Cisco Engineering will only provide fixes for Security Vulnerabilities as per the EoVS milestone timeframe.

June 17. 2023

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

Jun 30, 2025

Cisco NSO Software Support NSO 5.7 and later

Beginning with NSO 5.7 NSO software will have two different support lifecycles:

      Long Lived releases will be supported 42 month after End of Life Announcement date (EoL) and will reach End of Software Maintenance milestone 30 months after End of Life Announcement date (EoL).

      Short Lived releases will be supported 12 month after End of Life Announcement and will reach EoSM at the same date.

      Every third release will be a long lived release and the two releases after a long lived release will be short lived.

      The life cycle version of the release will be shown in the table that summarize End of Life Announcement date (EoL), EoSM and LDOS milestones below.

      Example of Long Lived and Short Lived release cadence: NSO 5.7 Long lived, 5.8 Short Lived, 6.0 Short Lived, 6.1 Long Lived

Table 8 and Table 9 summarizes the End-of-Sale(EoS) and End of Life Announcement date (EoL) milestones for Cisco NSO Software release (NSO 5.7, 6.x ,…)

Table 8.        Cisco NSO Software End-of-Sale and End-of-Life milestones by Long Lived Release

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date the document that announces end of life of a product to the general public.

Will begin at FCS of each subsequent minor release.

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

Thirty (30) months after EoL announcement date.

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

Forty two (42) months after EoL announcement date.

Table 9.        Cisco NSO Software End-of-Sale and End-of-Life milestones by Short Lived Release

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date the document that announces end of life of a product to the general public.

Will begin at FCS of each subsequent minor release.

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

Twelve (12) months after EoL announcement date.

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

Eighteen (18) months after EoL announcement date.

Table 10.     Release Support Timeline for Release 5.7 Long Lived release

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

Aug 31, 2022

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

April 23, 2025

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

April 30, 2026

 

Table 11.     Release Support Timeline for Release 5.8 Short Lived release

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

Nov 10, 2022

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

Nov 10, 2023

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

May 30, 2024

 

Table 12.     Release Support Timeline for Release 6.0 Short Lived release

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

May 2, 2023

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

May 2, 2024

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

Oct 31, 2024

Table 13.     Release Support Timeline for Release 6.1 Long Lived release

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

Nov  27, 2023

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

May  27, 2026

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

May  30, 2027

 

Table 14.     Release Support Timeline for Release 6.2 Short Lived release

Milestone

Definition

Timing

End-of-Life (EoL) Announcement Date

The date of this announcement

May 8, 2024

End of SW Maintenance (EoSM) Release Date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.

May 8, 2025

Last Date of Support

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

Oct 31, 2025

 

 

Upgrade Paths

Customers are encouraged to migrate to Cisco NSO’s most recent release when the release becomes available.

NSO Customer’s with an active Cisco NSO Support contract are eligible to download the latest releases from Cisco Software Download, located at https://software.cisco.com/download/home.

Cisco Services

Cisco offers a wide range of services programs to accelerate customer success. These innovative services programs are delivered through a unique combination of resources, processes, tools, and partners, resulting in high levels of customer satisfaction. Cisco Services help you protect your network investment, optimize network operations, and prepare your network for new applications to extend network intelligence and the power of your business. For more information about Cisco Services, refer to: https://www.cisco.com/go/services.

Support Timelines of Previously Announced Releases

For support timelines of the NSO v4.6 SW Release: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/cloud-systems-management/network-services-orchestrator/eos-eol-notice-c51-740981.html

For support timelines of the NSO v4.5 SW Release: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/cloud-systems-management/network-services-orchestrator/eos-eol-notice-c51-740344.html

For all NSO support timelines of previous versions: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/cloud-systems-management/network-services-orchestrator/eos-eol-notice-listing.html

For More Information

For more information about the Cisco NSO product line visit the following page: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/cloud-systems-management/network-services-orchestrator/index.html or contact your local Cisco account manager.

For information about Cisco service and support programs and benefits, visit: https://www.cisco.com/c/m/en_us/customer-experience/support/software-support-service-swss.html

 

 

 

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