This article provides information on the End of General Support for vSphere 5.0 and vSphere 5.1, which includes vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.0 and 5.1 and vCenter Server 5.0 and 5.1 respectively.

The End of General Support for vSphere 5.0 and vSphere 5.1 is August 24, 2016. To maintain your full level of support and subscription, you should upgrade to a supported version of vSphere. For more information on the benefits of upgrading and how to upgrade, see VMware vSphere Upgrade Center.

If you need assistance in moving to a newer version of vSphere, VMware’s vSphere Upgrade Service is available. This service delivers a comprehensive guide to upgrade your virtual infrastructure. It includes recommendations for planning and testing the upgrade, the actual upgrade itself, validation guidance and rollback procedures. For more information, contact your Technical Account Manager or see VMware Professional Services.

In the event you are unable to upgrade before the End of General Support (EOGS) and are active on Support and Subscription, you have the option to purchase extended support in one year increments for up to two years beyond the EOGS date. The price of Extended Support is $300,000 per product per year. For more information, see VMware Extended Support.

Technical Guidance is available until August 24, 2018 primarily through the self-help portal. During the Technical Guidance phase, VMware does not offer new hardware support, server/client/guest operating system updates, new security patches or bug fixes unless otherwise noted. For more information, see VMware Lifecycle Support Phases.