Software Lifecycle Support Statement

2025-01-10 What You Will Learn This software lifecycle support statement describes the release and support timeline and support guidelines for Cisco NSO Soft

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 is is a time – base release model that deliver two to three release each year . This approach is enables enable Cisco to introduce stable and feature rich Software release 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 is provides provide a distinct release vehicle combine to regularly deliver new feature two to three time each year with regular maintenance release for fix . The schedule is specifies specify two to three individual software release within a 12 – month cycle . This cadence is repeat 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 is be ( NSO 5.X , 6.X … ) will be active and available for download ( minor version also ) until the eol announcement is publish as per the guideline 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 support for 42 month after the eol announcement go out for it . Customers is continue with active service contract will continue to receive support from the Cisco Technical Assistance Center ( TAC ) as show in Table 1 above . After this date , all support is are service 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 ) month 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long develop , repair , maintain , or test the product software . note : After this date , Cisco Engineering is provide will only provide fix for Security vulnerability 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 is are service for the product are unavailable , and the product becomes obsolete .	Thirty six ( 36 ) month 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long develop , repair , maintain , or test the product software . note : After this date , Cisco Engineering is provide will only provide fix for Security vulnerability 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long develop , repair , maintain , or test the product software . note : After this date , Cisco Engineering is provide will only provide fix for Security vulnerability 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long develop , repair , maintain , or test the product software . note : After this date , Cisco Engineering is provide will only provide fix for Security vulnerability 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long develop , repair , maintain , or test the product software . note : After this date , Cisco Engineering is provide will only provide fix for Security vulnerability 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long develop , repair , maintain , or test the product software . note : After this date , Cisco Engineering is provide will only provide fix for Security vulnerability 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long develop , repair , maintain , or test the product software . note : After this date , Cisco Engineering is provide will only provide fix for Security vulnerability 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 is are service for the product are unavailable , and the product becomes obsolete .	Jun 30 , 2025

Cisco NSO Software Support NSO 5.7 and later

begin with NSO 5.7 NSO software will have two different support lifecycle :

● long lived release will be support 42 month after End of Life Announcement date ( EoL ) and will reach End of Software Maintenance milestone 30 month 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 is be will be a long live release and the two release after a long live release will be short live .

● 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 live , 5.8 short Lived , 6.0 short Lived , 6.1 long live

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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long 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 is are service 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 release or bug fix . After this date , Cisco Engineering is develop will no long 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 is are service 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