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Understanding guest operating system support levels (2015161)
Purpose
This article describes the support levels that exist for guest operating systems.
When creating a new virtual machine, choosing the guest operating system displays the level of support, if it is anything other than Supported.
Note: VMware requires you to install an operating system minor update or service pack release that is supported by the operating system vendor. In the case where the operating system vendor no longer supports the major release, VMware requires you to install the latest operating system minor update or service pack.
Resolution
Tech Preview
Operating system releases that have a Tech Preview level of support are planned for future support by VMware but are not certified for use as a guest operating system for one or more of these reasons:
The operating system vendor has not announced the general availability of the operating system release.
Not all blocking issues have been resolved by the operating system vendor.
One or more required enabling changes are not available in the form of a VMware product update or patch release.
Compatibility testing of a new OS update release is not complete.
VMware publishes usage recommendations and known issues that should be considered when attempting to use these operating system releases for evaluation and testing purposes. However, VMware does not provide support for these operating system releases and does not recommend using these releases for critical production workloads.
Supported
Operating systems with this support level are fully supported by VMware. This includes technical support and engineering fixes.
Legacy
The Legacy support level is between Supported and Deprecated. These guest operating systems are typically no longer supported by the original vendor. As a result, VMware's ability to support this guest operating system is reduced.
VMware does not implement support for most newer VMware features and functions on operating system releases that are classified under this support level.
If you are currently running a guest operating system that is at the Legacy support level, VMware recommends that you plan to move to a newer release.
Deprecated
Prior to terminating support for operating system releases, VMware announces that the support for selected operating system releases has been deprecated in the product release notes and the VMware Compatibility Guide shows the support level for these releases as Deprecated.
A Deprecated operating system release is still supported by VMware and still receives technical support and engineering fixes (similar to Legacy) until it moves to the Terminated support level.
If you are currently running a guest operating system that is at the Deprecated support level, VMware recommends that you plan to move to a newer release.
Terminated
VMware does not provide support for operating system releases with terminated support.
Operating system releases with terminated support do not appear in the search results in the VMware Compatibility Guide.
If you are currently running a guest operating system that is at the Terminated support level, VMware recommends moving to a newer release immediately. VMware support does not provide assistance with any issues relating to this operating system release.
Unsupported
VMware does not provide support for operating system releases with Unsupported support level. This includes technical support and engineering fixes.
Additional Information
The VMware Compatibility Guide lists the support level status of all past and presently supported guest operating systems.
Update History
11/28/2012 - Updated Product Versions
01/16/2013 - Updated Purpose Information
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