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.
EOL13629
Cisco announces the end-of-sale and end-of-life dates for the Cisco Business Edition 6000/7000 embedded virtualization commercial offers, all versions. The last day to order the affected product(s) is March 2, 2023. Customers with active service contracts will continue to receive support from the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) as shown in Table 1 of the EoL bulletin. Table 1 describes the end-of-life milestones, definitions, and dates for the affected product(s). Table 2 lists the product part numbers affected by this announcement. For customers with active and paid service and support contracts, support will be available under the terms and conditions of customers' service contract.
This EOL bulletin is for entire commercial offers, entire feature-levels and all versions (first shipping 7.0 and all available versions after that). These commercial offers were only sold in conjunction with Business Edition 6000 (BE6000) / Business Edition (BE7000) appliances of select older hardware generations. New purchases of BE6000 / BE7000 appliances of M6 hardware generation do not ship with or have options for these embedded virtualization commercial offers.
Cisco commercial offer EOL milestone dates may occur before VMware's release EOL milestone date published on the VMware Product Lifecycle Matrix at vmware.com. Bug/security fixes for ESXi releases come from VMware, and are not available beyond VMware's published End of General Support date for the release in question.
Customers with active SWSS may call Cisco TAC for support, but note VMware support engagement to Cisco ramps down after VMware's published date for End of General Support for the release in question.
Customers with active SWSS will have access to version upgrade 7.x to 8.x subject to VMware making the upgrade available to Cisco. The last major version upgrade that will be made available for these End of Life commercial offers will be 8.0 (subject to VMware making 8.x licenses available to Cisco). Any future major versions past 8.0 will not be available for these End of Life Commercial offers. Customers requiring a major version beyond 8.0 must procure a replacement commercial offer with support that offers post-8.0 versions (such as VMW-VSP-STD-1A= with ISV1 service, or a customer-provided option).
Table 1. End-of-life milestones and dates for the Cisco Business Edition 6000/7000 embedded virtualization commercial offers, all versions
| Milestone |
Definition |
Date |
| End-of-Life 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. |
December 1, 2022 |
| End-of-Sale Date: |
The last date to order the product through Cisco point-of-sale mechanisms. The product is no longer for sale after this date. |
March 2, 2023 |
| Last Ship Date: |
The last-possible ship date that can be requested of Cisco and/or its contract manufacturers. Actual ship date is dependent on lead time. |
May 31, 2023 |
| End of SW Maintenance Releases 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. |
March 1, 2024 |
| End of New Service Attachment Date: |
For equipment and software that is not covered by a service-and-support contract, this is the last date to order a new service-and-support contract or add the equipment and/or software to an existing service-and-support contract. |
March 1, 2024 |
| End of Service Contract Renewal Date: |
The last date to extend or renew a service contract for the product. |
March 1, 2025 |
| Last Date of Support: |
The last date to receive applicable service and support for the product as entitled by active service contracts or by warranty terms and conditions. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete. |
March 31, 2025 |
Table 2. Product part numbers affected by this announcement
| End-of-Sale Product Part Number |
Product Description |
Replacement Product Part Number |
Replacement Product Description |
Additional Information |
| VIRT-LIC-FND |
Factory-load Embedded Virtualization SW License |
See the Product Migration Options section below for detailed information on replacing this product. |
- |
- |
| BE6K-VIRTBAS-7X |
Cisco BE Embedded Virt. Basic 7x, BE6K only |
See the Product Migration Options section below for detailed information on replacing this product. |
- |
- |
| BE6/7K-VIRTBASP-7X |
Cisco BE Embedded Virt. Basic Plus 7x, BE6K/7K only |
See the Product Migration Options section below for detailed information on replacing this product. |
- |
- |
| BE6/7K-VIRTENH-7X |
Cisco BE Embedded Virt. Enhanced 7x, BE6K/7K/CMS1K only |
See the Product Migration Options section below for detailed information on replacing this product. |
- |
- |
Cisco TAC support will end on the Last Day of Support. Major version upgrades will not be possible on any of these commercial offers after the Last Day of Support.
Customers who wish to continue support and/or obtain access to major software upgrades must migrate to a replacement commercial offer with support (such as VMW-VSP-STD-1A= with ISV1 service) or a customer-provided option.
Service prices for Cisco products are subject to change after the product End-of-Sale date.
The Cisco Takeback and Recycle program helps businesses properly dispose of surplus products that have reached their end of useful life. The program is open to all business users of Cisco equipment and its associated brands and subsidiaries. For more information, go to: https://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac227/ac228/ac231/about_cisco_takeback_recycling.html.
For more information about the Cisco End-of-Life Policy, go to: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/eos-eol-policy.html.
For more information about the Cisco Product Warranties, go to: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/warranty-listing.html.
To subscribe to receive end-of-life/end-of-sale information, go to: https://cway.cisco.com/mynotifications.
Any authorized translation issued by Cisco Systems or affiliates of this end-of-life Product Bulletin is intended to help customers understand the content described in the English version. This translation is the result of a commercially reasonable effort; however, if there are discrepancies between the English version and the translated document, please refer to the English version, which is considered authoritative.