PB2214
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.
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.
Note: Lifecycle milestones for Releases 12.4 and 12.4T will be added to Table 1 when End of Sale and End of Software Maintenance dates for these releases are announced. For any queries regarding the projected lifecycle of a release, please contact your Cisco representative.
Table 1. Releases 12.3 and 12.3T, Releases 12.2 and 12.2T, Release 12.1, and Release 12.1E Lifecycle Dates and Milestones (Updated: June, 2007)
|
Release |
First Customer Shipment |
End of Sale Announcement Date |
End of Sale Date |
End of Software Maintenance Date |
Migration Path |
|
Release12.3 |
May, 2003 |
9/15/2006 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps5187/prod_eol_notice0900aecd8052e110.html |
3/15/2007 |
3/15/2008 |
Releases 12.4, 12.4T |
|
Release 12.3T |
Oct, 2003 |
12/7/2005 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps5207/prod_bulletin0900aecd803a0ffe.html |
6/7/2006 |
6/7/2007 |
Releases 12.4, 12.4T |
|
Release 12.2 |
May, 2001 |
9/19/2005 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1835/prod_eol_notice0900aecd80330813.html |
3/19/2006 |
3/19/2007 |
Releases 12.4, 12.4T |
|
Release 12.2T |
Jun, 2001 |
5/30/2003 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1839/prod_eol_notice09186a0080186d83.html |
11/30/2003 |
11/30/2004 |
Releases 12.4, 12.4T |
|
Release 12.1 |
Jun, 2000 |
12/12/2003 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1831/prod_eol_notice09186a008032d55c.html |
6/12/2004 |
2/12/2005 |
Releases 12.4, 12.4T |
|
Release 12.1E |
Mar, 2000 |
9/15/2006 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1833/prod_eol_notice0900aecd8052e0f5.html |
3/15/2007 |
3/15/2008 |
Release 12.2S Family1 |
|
1The 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.
|
Note: Lifecycle milestones for Releases 12.2SB, 12.2SR, 12.2SE, 12.2SG, and 12.2SX will be added to Table 2 when End of Sale and End of Software Maintenance dates for these releases are announced. For any queries regarding the projected lifecycle of a release, please contact your Cisco representative.
Table 2. Release 12.2S Family and Release 12.0S Lifecycle Dates and Milestones (Updated: October, 2007)
|
Release |
First Customer Shipment |
End of Sale Announcement Date |
End of Sale Date |
End of Software Maintenance Date |
Migration Path |
|
Release 12.2S |
Jan, 2003 |
6/19/2006 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1838/prod_eol_notice0900aecd804be5cf.html |
12/12/2006 |
12/12/2007 |
Release 12.2S Family1 |
|
Release 12.2(27)SB |
Sept, 2005 |
5/1/2006 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1838/prod_eol_notice0900aecd80481a49.html |
11/1/2006 |
11/1/2007 |
Release 12.2(28)SB or later |
|
12.0(2)S through 12.0(25)S |
Dec, 1998 |
9/17/2007 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1829/prod_eol_notice0900aecd806caed8.html |
3/15/2008 |
3/15/2009 |
Release 12.0(32)S or later supported releases. |
|
12.0(26)S through 12.0(31)S |
Aug, 2003 |
9/17/2007 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1829/prod_eol_notice0900aecd806caed8.html |
9/16/2008 |
9/16/2009 |
Release 12.0(32)S or later supported releases. |
|
1The migration path for this release is hardware dependent. Refer to the End of Sale and End of Life Product Bulletin for Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2S for more information http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1838/prod_eol_notice0900aecd804be5cf.html.
|
Additional Information
• Cisco IOS Software Reference Guide: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1828/products_white_paper09186a008018305e.shtml
• Cisco IOS Software Releases: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/products_ios_cisco_ios_software_releases.html
• Cisco IOS Software Upgrade Planner: http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/Software/Iosplanner/Planner-tool/iosplanner.cgi
• 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
• Hardware End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcements: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/prod_end_of_life.html
• Subscribe to receive End-of-Life/End-of-Sale information: http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/Support/FieldNoticeTool/field-notice
• Cisco Product and Services Security Advisories: http://www.cisco.com/go/psirt
• Cisco IOS Software Release related comments and questions on this document: ios-release-pm@cisco.com
