Support Extensions for WAS 7.0 & 8.0; Support discontinuance of Java 6 & 7 with WAS 8.5
End of Support Announcements:On September 30, 2016, IBM announced that WAS 7.0 and 8.0 will reach end of support on April 30, 2018. Additionally, the use of Java 6 with WAS 8.5.x will no longer be supported after April 30, 2018 and use of Java 7 with WAS 8.5.x will no longer be supported after September 2019.
Extended Support for WAS 7.0 and 8.0IBM will offer extended support for WAS 7.0 and 8.0. Active S&S and a signed Support Extension contract is required to receive extended support, which is available May 01, 2018 through April 30, 2021. WebSphere Application Server versions 7.0 and 8.0 have an embedded Java 6 as the default runtime. The support provided for Java 6 is limited in scope and duration. The support extension for WAS 7.0 & 8.0 along with the embedded Java 6 is outlined in the following table. The client's Support Extension contact will contain the exact details.
Usage & Known Defect support: The scope of "usage" is limited to helping clients troubleshoot Java issues that require analyzing GC, javacores, heapdumps and cores. If a defect is detected in Java 6 then support would determine if the defect has been fixed in the Java 6 maintenance stream or is a new defect. If an existing Java fix is the solution, then support will point the client to the appropriate maintenance level to apply. If the Java 6 defect is new then support would investigate options to help resolve the issue including a workaround. An APAR may be taken to fix the defect in a currently supported Java maintenance stream. The option to fix and deliver a future build on the Java 6 release family is not offered.
Purchasing a Support Extension for a WebSphere ProductIf your IBM WebSphere product has passed its End of Support date please follow the link to continue receiving Product and Customer Technical Support for your product. Begin the process of purchasing a Support Extension for a WebSphere Product When considering the purchase of a Support Extension, be aware of some future ramifications to the terms in the extension.
Although IBM accepts most requests for a SE, it is still highly recommended that the customer put in motion plans to move off of WAS v7.0 or v8.0 and onto WAS V8.5 or V9.0 during their SE timeframe. Remaining on older WAS releases longer than required will only further potential exposure of risks. WebSphere Application Server v8.5.x Java SupportThe WAS IBM highly recommends that all clients move to WebSphere Application Server for V8.5 or WebSphere Application Server for V9.0 and the latest Java SE version (Java SE 8) due to potential security risks on earlier releases of WebSphere Application Server and Java. WebSphere Application Server for V8.5 provides the option to use Java SE 6, Java SE 7, or Java SE 8. WebSphere Application Server includes Java and during the life-cycle of WebSphere Application Server those packaged versions of Java may go out of support by Oracle. Once a Java SE release is no longer supported by Oracle then IBM will not be able to provide any code fixes for that specific Java release. Security risks can come in the form of newly identified exposures that impact older versions of Java, and also updates from browser vendors that remove support for security standards that are no longer considered secure, such as SHA1. Current versions of WebSphere Application Server support multiple versions of Java SE. New releases of Java are added as they become available to enable you to stay current and reduce the risk of security exposures. See Oracle support for details of when Oracle will discontinue support for specific Java versions. If you are using WebSphere Application Server V8.5 with Java SE 6, then there will no longer be support for the Java SE 6 version after April 2018. Similarly, for users of WebSphere Application Server V8.5 with Java SE 7 or Java SE 7.1, support for the Java SE 7.x versions will be discontinued after September 2019. WebSphere Application Server Liberty has a single support stream for all product versions. Support for Java SE 6 with Liberty will end in September 2017 to allow the Liberty code and included open source packages to move forward. Support for the Java SE 7.x versions will be discontinued after September 2019.
Support Extension for WAS 8.5 with Java 6There are no support extensions for using Java 6 with WAS 8.5.x. The last fixpack that will support Java 6 is 8.5.5.13. It was released on February 5, 2018 (see Clients will continue to have the option to use either the Java 7 or Java 8 runtime with WAS 8.5.5.x. They will be able to use the -managesdk option to choose whether their WAS profiles use Java 7 or 8. Support Extension for WAS 8.5 with Java 7.xThe IBM Java 7 SDK will reach its end of life after September 2019. The support scenario for using Java 7.x with WAS 8.5.x will follow a similar path as for Java 6. The first fixpack after September 2019 will have code in it to automatically remove Java 7.x and replace it with Java 8. If clients want to continue using Java 7 with WAS 8.5.5.x, then they will have to also remain on a back-level version of WAS. It is presently unknown whether there will be Java CPUs provided by Oracle that apply to Java 7.
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