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Starting with Release 25 of the Cisco BroadWorks software, all server types are release independent and follow the date-based release naming convention. Even with such a date-based release naming convention, the N-2 support window continues to be applied. In order to clearly define the N-2 support window, the Application Server still includes the major release as part of its filename. This major release links the support window with actual dates for the other release independent software support. Here are a few facts about release independent software support:
● Tickets opened against supported releases will be accepted and worked on.
● There is a monthly release of the complete Release Independent Server software binary.
● All fixes shall be delivered only in the next monthly releases.
● The monthly release is not patchable; changes are generally incorporated in the next monthly release. In case of critical bugs (outage, critical security issue, for example), a rebuild of the latest release can be done to make a fix available sooner than the next monthly release.
● New features are introduced in monthly releases as they are available.
As always, customers must make sure the upgrade plans for their BroadWorks systems keep them running the latest release, or at the very least, a supported release. This is important to ensure that systems are maintained with the most competitive features, the latest security and platform updates.
A supported release is a release that fits within the N-2 support window. For Release Independent, the support window is tied to the major release of the Application Server and is set to spawn from N-2, N-1, and N, where N is the current Application Server major release being published on Cisco Download. The following examples illustrate the support window and the relation between the Application Server major release and its corresponding introduction date which matches the last release independent version being supported. In the first example, since R23 was introduced in December 2018, the last release independent version being supported is 2018.12.
● In August 2022, N = AS Release 25, the supported AS releases are R25, R24, R23 and the supported Release Independent are 2018.12 and up.
● In August 2024, N = AS Release 26, the supported AS releases are R26, R25, R24 and the supported Release Independent are 2020.08 and up.
● In August 2026, N = AS Release 27, the supported AS releases are R27, R26, R25 and the supported Release Independent are 2022.08 and up.
● In August 2027, N = AS Release 28, the supported AS releases are R28, R27, R26 and the supported Release Independent are 2024.08 and up.
● In August 2028, N = AS Release 29, the supported AS releases are R29, R28, R27 and the supported Release Independent are 2026.08 and up.
● In August 2029, N = AS Release 30, the supported AS releases are R30, R29, R28 and the supported Release Independent are 2027.08 and up.
● This goes on as AS major release is incremented every year.
The above support window examples illustrate that Cisco is moving from a 6-year support window to a 3-year support window.