Operating systems lifecycle
This document describes the lifecycle of an operating system (OS) version,
starting from its creation through to its end of lifecycle (EOL) stage.
An OS version transitions through two main stages as part of its
lifecycle:
- Mainstream support or general availability (GA)
Deprecated or end of support (EOS): which is further divided into the
following two sub-stages:
- Extended support
- End of lifecycle (EOL)
For some OS versions, after they are marked deprecated, they might also have an
extended support phase before they reach full EOL.
The following sections outline the lifecycle stages of an OS version on
Compute Engine.
Mainstream support or general availability (GA)
In this stage the following processes take place:
- With the introduction of a new OS version, the OS image provider creates a
new OS image and assigns a name by using the naming convention for that OS
distribution. For example,
debian-11-bullseye-v20230801.
The image provider then creates a new image family. For example,
debian-11.
Image families help you manage OS images in your
project by grouping related images together, so that you can roll forward and
roll back between specific OS image versions. For more information, see
Image families best practices.
All calls to the image family references this recently created OS image.
For example, if you specify an image family during VM creation by
using the --image-family flag with the appropriate --image-project, then
the latest version of the image is used.
Occasionally, the image provider applies critical security or bug
fixes, that are sent by the OS provider, to the OS image. In these updates,
new features might be introduced.
When an update is sent, the following takes place:
- The current OS image is updated and a new name is generated. For
example, the
debian-11-bullseye-v20230801 with the updates becomes
debian-11-bullseye-v20230901.
- The
debian-11 image family now points to the new
debian-11-bullseye-v20230901 OS image.
- The previous OS image (
debian-11-bullseye-v20230801) is marked
deprecated.
Deprecated or End of Support (EOS)
At some point, each OS version reaches the deprecation phase. For OS version
deprecation dates, see Operating system details.
Deprecated OS versions can either be in an extended supported or end of
lifecycle phase.
In this stage, OS providers stop providing image updates and the OS images are
marked deprecated. You might still be able to use these OS images, but you are
responsible for acquiring updates, which are subject to availability from the
OS distribution, vendor, or open source community.
When an OS version reaches EOS, the following takes place:
- The latest image in the image family is either deleted or marked deprecated.
You can no longer use the image family. However, you can still
use some or all of the OS images by referencing them directly with the
exception of Windows where all OS images are deleted at EOS.
To create a VM from a deprecated image, you must use the
gcloud CLI or REST. When specifying the image,
you must use the --image flag because image families don't point to
deprecated images. For more information about creating VMs, see
Create a VM instance from a public image.
When an OS version reaches or goes past the extended lifecycle stage, Google
doesn't guarantee feature compatibility with new machine families or CPU
platforms, to these deprecated versions.
All VMs that use OS images that belong to this EOS OS version continue to work on
Compute Engine and are still eligible for
Trusted Cloud by S3NS support
beyond their EOS date.
However, if any issues with the VM is identified to be associated with
the deprecated OS version, Google might not be able to resolve the issue
as OS provider support is no longer available.
Deprecated OS versions can either be in an extended supported phase or end of
lifecycle.
Extended support
For some operating systems, when they reach the deprecation phase,
OS distributors provide a maintenance, extended or long-term paid package that
can be applied to your OS:
- For Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) OS: Maintenance support, Extended life phase,
Extended Lifecycle support ELS (Add-On), or Extended Update Support (EUS)
- For Rocky Linux: Long Term Support can be
purchased from CIQ
- For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) OS:
Long Term Service Pack Support, Extended Service Pack Overlap Support (ESPOS)
- For Ubuntu Pro OS: Extended Security Maintenance (ESM)
- For Windows OS: Extended Security Updates
For more details on these extended lifecycle packages, see the documentation for
the OS provider.
End of lifecycle (EOL)
For operating systems that have reached the end of the extended support period,
or operating systems that don't support an extended support period, the
following takes place:
The latest image in the image family is marked deprecated, or is deleted
from Trusted Cloud by S3NS.
The guest environment software provided by Google won't be
updated for EOL OS versions, and repositories are no longer updated or maintained.
For existing VMs that use EOL OS versions, the following takes place:
- The VM can't download or install software packages or updates from the OS
vendor and security updates are no longer available. This occurs because
content from the OS vendor might no longer be available from the existing
channels as the configured software repository infrastructure from
the OS vendor might be turned down or archived.
- The VM continues to run but continued compatibility is not guaranteed.
Active support might not be available from the OS vendor or Google. Google
can provide options for migration or upgrades to newer OS versions.
OS image naming convention, update schedule, and deprecation policy
The following table outlines the naming convention for OS images
and image families, the update schedule, and the applicable EOS
policy.
Definitions
The following notations are used in the table:
V is the numeric version for the OS. For example RHEL-7 where 7 is the
numeric versionR is the release string sometimes referred to as the development codename
for the OS. For example, debian-12-bookworm-v20240213 where bookworm
is the release string.
Release strings only apply to Debian and Ubuntu OS images.N is the numeric build number. Build numbers only apply to
Container-Optimized OS and Fedora CoreOS.YYYYMMDD is the Year/Month/Day that identifies the date that the
OS image was built or published. For some OS, the date is preceded by a
lowercase v. For example, vYYYYMMDD.
| OS |
Image family |
OS image |
Update schedule |
Deprecation policy |
| CentOS Stream |
- centos-stream-V
- centos-stream-V-arm64
|
- centos-stream-V-vYYYYMMDD
- centos-stream-V-arm64-vYYYYMMDD
|
Monthly |
OS images are marked deprecated but are still available for use. |
| Container-Optimized OS |
|
|
Monthly |
OS images are marked deprecated but are still available for use. |
| Debian |
|
- debian-V-R-vYYYYMMDD
- debian-V-R-arm64-vYYYYMMDD
|
Monthly |
OS images are marked deprecated but are still available for use. |
| Fedora CoreOS |
- fedora-coreos-R
- fedora-coreos-R-arm64
|
- fedora-coreos-V-YYYYMMDD-N-gcp-x86-64
- fedora-coreos-V-YYYYMMDD-N-gcp-aarch64
|
Critical bug or security issues |
OS images are deleted on the EOS date. |
| RHEL |
|
- rhel-V-vYYYYMMDD
- rhel-V-arm64-vYYYYMMDD
|
Monthly |
OS images are marked deprecated but are still available for use. |
| RHEL BYOS |
- rhel-V-byos
- rhel-V-byos-arm64
- rhel-V-sap-byos
|
- rhel-V-byos-vYYYYMMDD
- rhel-V-byos-arm64-vYYYYMMDD
- rhel-V-sap-byos-vYYYYMMDD
|
Monthly |
OS images are marked deprecated but are still available for use. |
| RHEL for SAP |
|
|
Monthly |
OS images are marked deprecated but are still available for use. |
| Rocky Linux |
- rocky-linux-V
- rocky-linux-V-arm64
- rocky-linux-V-optimized-gcp
- rocky-linux-V-optimized-gcp-arm64
|
- rocky-linux-V-vYYYMMDD
- rocky-linux-arm64-V-vYYYMMDD
- rocky-linux-V-optimized-gcp-vYYYYMMDD
- rocky-linux-V-optimized-gcp-arm64-vYYYYMMDD
|
Monthly |
OS images are marked deprecated but are still available for use. |
| SQL Server on Windows Server |
|
- sql-V-R-windows-V-dc-vYYYYMMDD
|
Monthly |
OS images are deleted on the EOS date. |
| SLES |
|
- sles-V-vYYYYMMDD-x86-64
- sles-V-vYYYYMMDD-arm64
|
Quarterly |
Only the latest OS image is marked deprecated.
Deprecated OS images are deleted six months after the deprecation date. |
| SLES for SAP |
- sles-V-sap
- sles-V-sap-hardened
|
- sles-V-sap-vYYYYMMDD-x86-64
- sles-V-sap-hardened-vYYYYMMDD-x86-64
|
Quarterly |
Only the latest OS image is marked deprecated.
Deprecated OS images are deleted six months after the deprecation date. |
| SLES for SAP BYOS |
- sles-V-byos
- sles-V-byos-arm64
- sles-V-sap-byos
|
- sles-V-byos-vYYYYMMDD-x86-64
- sles-V-byos-vYYYYMMDD-arm64
- sles-V-sap-byos-vYYYYMMDD-x86-64
|
Quarterly |
Only the latest OS image is marked deprecated.
Deprecated OS images are deleted six months after the deprecation date. |
| Ubuntu LTS |
- ubuntu-V-lts
- ubuntu-V-lts-arm64
- ubuntu-minimal-V-lts
- ubuntu-minimal-V-lts-arm64
|
- ubuntu-V-R-vYYYYMMDD
- ubuntu-V-R-arm64-vYYYYMMDD
- ubuntu-minimal-V-R-vYYYYMMDD
- ubuntu-minimal-V-R-arm64-vYYYYMMDD
|
Critical bug or security issues |
OS images are marked deprecated but are still available for use. |
| Ubuntu Pro |
- ubuntu-pro-V-lts
- ubuntu-pro-V-lts-arm64
- ubuntu-pro-fips-V-lts
|
- ubuntu-pro-V-R-vYYYYMMDD
- ubuntu-pro-V-R-arm64-vYYYYMMDD
- ubuntu-pro-fips-V-R-vYYYYMMDD
|
Critical bug or security issues |
OS images are marked deprecated but are still available for use. |
| Windows Server |
|
- windows-server-V-dc-vYYYYMMDD
- windows-server-V-dc-core-vYYYYMMDD
|
Monthly |
OS images are deleted on the EOS date. |
What's next
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-26 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-26 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eAn OS version progresses through two primary lifecycle stages: Mainstream Support/General Availability (GA) and Deprecated/End of Support (EOS), with the EOS stage potentially including an Extended Support phase.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDuring the GA stage, image providers create new OS images and image families, frequently applying critical security or bug fixes, and when an update occurs a new image is created while the old is deprecated, and the image family now points to the latest version.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhen an OS reaches the Deprecated/EOS stage, image updates cease, and while the deprecated OS images may remain usable, users become responsible for acquiring updates, with the latest image in the image family being deleted or deprecated, and image families become unusable; Windows is an exception to this, where all OS images are deleted at EOS.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eCertain OS versions offer an Extended Support phase, providing paid maintenance packages such as Red Hat's Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS), Ubuntu Pro's Extended Security Maintenance (ESM), or Windows' Extended Security Updates.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOperating systems that reach the End of Lifecycle (EOL) stage have their latest images deprecated or deleted, and VMs using EOL OS versions can no longer download or install software updates, while continued compatibility and support are not guaranteed.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Operating systems lifecycle\n\nLinux Windows\n\n*** ** * ** ***\n\nThis document describes the lifecycle of an operating system (OS) version,\nstarting from its creation through to its end of lifecycle (EOL) stage.\n\nAn OS version transitions through two main stages as part of its\nlifecycle:\n\n1. Mainstream support or general availability (GA)\n2. Deprecated or end of support (EOS): which is further divided into the\n following two sub-stages:\n\n 1. Extended support\n 2. End of lifecycle (EOL)\n\nFor some OS versions, after they are marked deprecated, they might also have an\nextended support phase before they reach full EOL.\n\nThe following sections outline the lifecycle stages of an OS version on\nCompute Engine.\n\nMainstream support or general availability (GA)\n-----------------------------------------------\n\nIn this stage the following processes take place:\n\n1. With the introduction of a new OS version, the OS image provider creates a new OS image and assigns a name by using the naming convention for that OS distribution. For example, `debian-11-bullseye-v20230801`.\n2. The image provider then creates a new image family. For example,\n `debian-11.`\n\n *Image families* help you manage OS images in your\n project by grouping related images together, so that you can roll forward and\n roll back between specific OS image versions. For more information, see\n [Image families best practices](/compute/docs/images/image-families-best-practices).\n\n All calls to the image family references this recently created OS image.\n For example, if you specify an image family during VM creation by\n using the `--image-family` flag with the appropriate `--image-project`, then\n the latest version of the image is used.\n3. Occasionally, the image provider applies critical security or bug\n fixes, that are sent by the OS provider, to the OS image. In these updates,\n new features might be introduced.\n When an update is sent, the following takes place:\n\n - The current OS image is updated and a new name is generated. For example, the `debian-11-bullseye-v20230801` with the updates becomes `debian-11-bullseye-v20230901.`\n - The `debian-11` image family now points to the new `debian-11-bullseye-v20230901` OS image.\n - The previous OS image (`debian-11-bullseye-v20230801`) is marked `deprecated`.\n\nDeprecated or End of Support (EOS)\n----------------------------------\n\nAt some point, each OS version reaches the deprecation phase. For OS version\ndeprecation dates, see [Operating system details](/compute/docs/images/os-details).\n\nDeprecated OS versions can either be in an extended supported or end of\nlifecycle phase.\n\nIn this stage, OS providers stop providing image updates and the OS images are\nmarked deprecated. You might still be able to use these OS images, but you are\nresponsible for acquiring updates, which are subject to availability from the\nOS distribution, vendor, or open source community.\n\nWhen an OS version reaches EOS, the following takes place:\n\n- The latest image in the image family is either deleted or marked deprecated.\n- You can no longer use the image family. However, you can still\n use some or all of the OS images by referencing them directly with the\n exception of Windows where all OS images are deleted at EOS.\n\n To create a VM from a deprecated image, you must use the\n gcloud CLI or REST. When specifying the image,\n you must use the `--image` flag because image families don't point to\n deprecated images. For more information about creating VMs, see\n [Create a VM instance from a public image](/compute/docs/instances/create-start-instance#publicimage).\n- When an OS version reaches or goes past the extended lifecycle stage, Google\n doesn't guarantee feature compatibility with new machine families or CPU\n platforms, to these deprecated versions.\n\n All VMs that use OS images that belong to this EOS OS version continue to work on\n Compute Engine and are still eligible for\n [Google Cloud support](/compute/docs/images/support-maintenance-policy#support-scope)\n beyond their EOS date.\n However, if any issues with the VM is identified to be associated with\n the deprecated OS version, Google might not be able to resolve the issue\n as OS provider support is no longer available.\n\nDeprecated OS versions can either be in an extended supported phase or end of\nlifecycle.\n\n### Extended support\n\nFor some operating systems, when they reach the deprecation phase,\nOS distributors provide a maintenance, extended or long-term paid package that\ncan be applied to your OS:\n\n- For Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) OS: Maintenance support, Extended life phase, Extended Lifecycle support ELS (Add-On), or Extended Update Support (EUS)\n- For Rocky Linux: Long Term Support can be [purchased from CIQ](https://ciq.com/products/rocky-linux/)\n- For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) OS: Long Term Service Pack Support, Extended Service Pack Overlap Support (ESPOS)\n- For Ubuntu Pro OS: Extended Security Maintenance (ESM)\n- For Windows OS: Extended Security Updates\n\nFor more details on these extended lifecycle packages, see the documentation for\nthe OS provider.\n\n### End of lifecycle (EOL)\n\nFor operating systems that have reached the end of the extended support period,\nor operating systems that don't support an extended support period, the\nfollowing takes place:\n\n- The latest image in the image family is marked deprecated, or is deleted\n from Google Cloud.\n\n- The guest environment software provided by Google won't be\n updated for EOL OS versions, and repositories are no longer updated or maintained.\n\n- For existing VMs that use EOL OS versions, the following takes place:\n\n - The VM can't download or install software packages or updates from the OS vendor and security updates are no longer available. This occurs because content from the OS vendor might no longer be available from the existing channels as the configured software repository infrastructure from the OS vendor might be turned down or archived.\n - The VM continues to run but continued compatibility is not guaranteed. Active support might not be available from the OS vendor or Google. Google can provide options for migration or upgrades to newer OS versions.\n\nOS image naming convention, update schedule, and deprecation policy\n-------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nThe following table outlines the naming convention for OS images\nand image families, the update schedule, and the applicable EOS\npolicy.\n\n### Definitions\n\nThe following notations are used in the table:\n\n- `V` is the numeric version for the OS. For example `RHEL-7` where `7` is the numeric version\n- `R` is the release string sometimes referred to as the development codename for the OS. For example, `debian-12-bookworm-v20240213` where `bookworm` is the release string. *Release strings only apply to Debian and Ubuntu OS images*.\n- `N` is the numeric build number. *Build numbers only apply to\n Container-Optimized OS and Fedora CoreOS*.\n- `YYYYMMDD` is the Year/Month/Day that identifies the date that the OS image was built or published. For some OS, the date is preceded by a lowercase `v`. For example, `vYYYYMMDD`.\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- Learn more about the [operating systems](/compute/docs/images/os-details) that are available on Compute Engine."]]
