Changes to Hotfixes and Maintenance for XenServer Releases

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Changes to Hotfixes and Maintenance for XenServer Releases
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XenServer (XS) is changing as a product with more aggressive release cycles as well as the recent introduction of both Current Release (CR) and Long Term Service Release (LTSR) options. Citrix recently announced changes to the way XenServer updates (hotfixes) will be regulated and this article summarizes the way these will be dealt with looking forward.

To first define a few terms and clarify some points, the CR model is intended for those who always want to install the latest and greatest versions, and these are being targeted for roughly quarterly releases. The LTSR model is primarily intended for installations that are required to run with a fixed release. These are by definition required to be under a service contract in order to gain access to periodic updates, known as Cumulative Updates or CUs. The first of these will be CU1. Since Citrix is targeting support for LTSR versions for ten years, this incurs quite a bit of cost over time and is much longer than a general CR cycle is maintained, hence the requirement for active support. The support for those running XS as part of running licensed versions of XenApp/XenDesktop will remain the same, as these CR licenses are provided as part of the XenApp/XenDesktop purchase. There will still be a free version of XenServer and the only change at this point will be that on-demand hotfixes for a given CR will no longer be available once the next CR is released. Instead, updates to quarterly releases will be needed to access and stay on top of hotfixes. More will be discussed about this later on. End-of-life timelines should help customers in planning for these changes. Licensed versions of XenServer need to fall under active Customer Success Services (CSS) contracts to be eligible for access to the corresponding types of updates and releases that fall outside of current product cycles.

 

At a Glance

The summary of how various XS versions are treated looking forward is presented in the following table, which provides an overview at a glance.

XenServer Version	Active Hotfix Cut-Off	Action Required
6.2 & 6.5 SP1	EOL June 2018	None. Hotfixes will continue to be available as before until EOL.
7.0	December 2017	Upgrade or buy CSS.
7.1	December 2017	Upgrade or buy CSS (to stay on the LTSR stream by deploying CU1)
7.2	At release of next CR	Upgrade to latest CR, or buy CSS to obtain 4 months more of hotfixes (and thus skip one CR)

 

In the future, the only way to get hotfixes for XS 7.2 without paying for a CSS will be to upgrade to the most current CR once released. Customers who do pay for CSS will also be able to access hotfixes on 7.2 for a further four months after the next CR is released. This would in principle allow you to skip a release and transition to the next one beyond it.

 

What Stays the Same

While changes are fairly significant for especially users of the free edition of XS, some aspects will not change. These include:

·        There will still be free versions of XenSever released as part of the quarterly CR cycle.

·        The free version of XS can still be updated with all released hotfixes until the next CR becomes generally available.

·        XS code still remains open source.

·        Any hotfixes that have already been released will remain publically available.

·        There will be no change to XS 6.2 through 6.5 SP1. They are only going to get security hotfixes at this point, anyway, until being EOLed in June 2017.

 

In Summary 

First off, stay calm and keep on maintaining XS pretty much as before except for the cut-offs on how long hotfixes will be available for non-paid-for versions. The large base of free XS users should not fear that all access to hotfixes is getting completely cut off. You will still be able to maintain your installation exactly as before, up to the point of a new CR. This will take place roughly every quarter. This is a pretty small amount of extra effort to keep up, especially given how much easier updating has become, in particular for pools. Most users would do well to keep up with current releases to benefit from improvements and to not have to apply huge numbers of hotfixes whenever installing a base version; the CR releases will include all hotfixes accumulated up to that point, which will be more convenient.

 

What To Do 

Any customers who already have active CSS contracts will be unaffected by any of these changes. Included are servers that support actively licensed XenApp/XenDesktop instances, who by the way, get all the XS Enterprise features incorporated into the latest XS releases – for all editions of XA/XD. Customers on XS 7.0 and 7.1 LTSR who have allowed their software maintenance to lapse and have not renewed/upgraded to CCS subscriptions should seriously consider that route.

Citrix will provide additional information as these changes are put into place.

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