VMware vCenter Server 7.x will be going end-of-life on October 2nd, 2025. vCenter Server is the centralized management platform for VMware vSphere, allowing administrators to manage multiple ESXi hosts, virtual machines, and clusters from a single interface. Make sure to upgrade all vCenter Server installations in your environment to maintain support and minimize security risks.
⚡ TL;DR | Go Straight to the VMware vCenter Server End of Life Audit
What is VMware vCenter Server?
VMware vCenter Server is the centralized management platform for VMware vSphere environments. It allows IT teams to efficiently manage multiple ESXi hosts and the virtual machines running on them from a single interface. vCenter Server provides key services such as resource allocation, performance monitoring, automation, and orchestration across clusters of hosts. By centralizing management, it enables administrators to easily deploy, configure, and maintain virtual infrastructures while ensuring consistent policies and optimal use of hardware resources.
VMware vCenter Server Lifecycle Policy
vCenter Server, like all products in the vSphere suite, follows VMware’s Enterprise Infrastructure Support Lifecycle Policy (EIP). Each major release receives a total of seven years of support, beginning from its general availability date. This period is divided into five years of General Support followed by two years of Technical Guidance.
During the General Support phase, VMware provides maintenance updates, upgrades, security and bug fixes, and technical assistance for customers with active support contracts. Each major release will have at least three update releases containing bug fixes and new features. Critical patches may also be issued for specific major or update releases. These updates require your vCenter Server to be at the corresponding update level. VMware also continues to add support for new hardware during this phase, updating the VMware Compatibility Guide to include newly certified platforms.
In the Technical Guidance phase, support is limited. VMware no longer provides new hardware support, OS updates, security patches, or bug fixes. Customers are encouraged to rely on the self-help portal for guidance. Support requests are only accepted for low-severity issues on supported configurations. This phase is designed for environments running stable workloads on fully deployed systems. A vCenter Server version reaches its End of Support Life (EOSL) at the conclusion of the Technical Guidance period.
| Version | End of General Support | End of Technical Guidance |
| 7.0 | October 2, 2025 | April 2, 2027* |
| 8.0 | October 11, 2027 |
*Does not apply to Broadcom contracts. Applicable to valid VMware contracts only.
VMware vCenter Server 7.x End of Life
vCenter Server 7.x will be going end of genenral support on October 2nd, 2025. The Technical Guidance phase will run until October 2nd, 2027. This second phase of the lifecycle does not include product support, security patches, or updates, nor will you be able to engage with Broadcom Support. Previously published service packs and fixes will still be available as part of self-service support for the remaining agreed-upon maintenance period.
To avoid having your environment go out of support, make sure to upgrade any installations of vCenter Server 7.x to a newer version. The newest version would be vCenter Server 9.x
Find Outdated vCenter Installations
Our team has created a vCenter Server End of Life Audit Report, that gives you an overview of all vCenter installations in your environment, whether they are still supported, and for how much longer. That way you can not only quickly spot which installations have gone past their EOL date but also plan ahead for upcoming End of Life dates.
If you are using Lansweeper’s cloud version, the Lifecycle Management feature can also help you stay on top of end-of-life dates so you can plan ahead.
