January 8, 2018
Wonder when support for a given CF or CF Builder version ends/ended?
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January 8, 2018
Wonder when support for a given CF or CF Builder version ends/ended?
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Have you wondered just when “support” (available updates) for a given CF or CF Builder version will (or did) end? This post tells you, for the past several CF releases, and all CF Builder releases, with some additional related information (like, “what’s ‘core support’ vs ‘extended support’?”)

Introduction

Especially as we enter 2018, and with a new ColdFusion release likely due out later this year (the prerelease is named Aether, and you can request to be considered for access to that), it’s time again for those running older CF versions to consider carefully the version they’re running.

But perhaps most important, it’s time for folks to pay attention to whether Adobe is (or is no longer) offering publicly available updates (bug fixes and security updates) for whatever version they run. For instance, note that as for CF, only CF11 and CF2016 are currently supported (being updated publicly, aka “core support”), as of this writing in January 2018. ColdFusion 10 support ended in May of 2017.

To help with assessing the state of the version you’re running or may be considering, here is a table of the past several versions of ColdFusion, and all versions of ColdFusion Builder.  (For the official location to find this information and see updates going forward, see additional discussion after the table.)

Product name Version General
availability
End of
core support
End of
extended support
Adobe ColdFusion 2016 2/16/2016 2/17/2021 2/17/2022
Adobe ColdFusion 11.x 4/29/2014 4/30/2019 4/30/2021
Adobe ColdFusion 10.x 5/15/2012 5/16/2017 5/16/2019
Adobe ColdFusion 9.x 10/5/2009 12/31/2014 12/31/2016
Adobe ColdFusion 8.x.x 7/30/2007 7/31/2012 7/31/2014
Macromedia ColdFusion 7.x.x 2/7/2005 2/7/2010 2/7/2012
Adobe ColdFusion Builder 2016 2/16/2016 2/17/2021 2/17/2022
Adobe ColdFusion Builder 3.x 4/29/2014 4/30/2019 4/30/2021
Adobe ColdFusion Builder 2.x 5/3/2011 5/31/2016 5/31/2018
Adobe ColdFusion Builder 1 3/22/2010 3/31/2015 3/31/2017

Finding the official Adobe source of this information

This information was obtained from the official Adobe “Products and technical support periods” page, and certainly that takes precedence over this (and while that page may be updated, there’s no guarantee that this blog post in the CF Community Portal will be updated when that page is.)

But do note that this official Adobe support matrix is for all Adobe products and historical version numbers (288 listed there as of this writing), and it shows only 25 at a time.

While of course you can use the page’s search feature, such as for:

coldfusion

which will find all CF versions listed, do note that the result is not in order (even within CF vs CF Builder). That’s one reason I created the table above.

And while you can try to search for a specific version, such as:

coldfusion 11

note that the result includes both products with coldfusion or 11 in their name (like ColdFusion 11.x) as well as also products with coldfusion in their name and 11 in their support dates, which is why you will see ColdFusion Builder 2.0, whose “general availability” date has 2011.

That’s the other reason I felt it valuable to create the table above, to make this info easier to consider, and to post it here in the community portal.

What does “core support” mean versus “extended support”?

As you view those columns, do note that there are two “support” dates, with one (“extended support”) that goes well beyond the other (“core support”). What’s the difference?

Well, while that EOL matrix page itself does not offer an explanation, there is another page which does:

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/policy_enterprise_lifecycle.html

Separately, the Adobe CF team offered an explanation in that 2017 post (which I link to in the first paragraph above) when CF10 support ended. There, they wrote:

Core support is the time frame wherein the product and the support programs are available. This provides, five years of product support from the general availability date of a product.

Extended support provides an additional two years of Platinum Maintenance and Support services after the end of Core Support. Extended Maintenance and Support provides the extra time you may need, to plan your migration to Adobe’s latest technology. “

And then they reference that other link I just shared for the enterprise lifecycle policies, which adds still more information on obtaining such “extended support”. You can also reach out to the CF Product Manager, Rakshith Naresh, who has offered his email address on various CF team blog posts: rakshith@adobe.com

Hope that’s helpful.

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