Previously the general support for vSphere 6.5 and 6.7 was full 5 years since the official release of vSphere 6.5 as 15 November 2021.
Earlier this month VMware has announced extension for General Support of vSphere 6.7. That means the general support for vSphere 6.5 remains as 15 November 20201 while it’s now extended to 15 October 2022 for vSphere 6.7.
This will allow the VMware customers to be able to keep their vSphere platforms in support while preparing for upgrading to vSphere 7.
VMware provides bug and security fixes, patches, upgrades and high priority (P1) technical support for customers on active general support.
Below is the End of General Support (EoGS) availability for vSphere
Product | General Availability | End of General Support | End of Technical Guidance |
vSphere 6.0 | 12 Mar 2015 | 12 Mar 2020 | 12 Mar 2022 |
vSphere 6.5 | 15 Nov 2016 | 15 Nov 2021 | 15 Nov 2023 |
vSphere 6.7 | 17 Apr 2018 | 15 Oct 2022 | 15 Nov 2023 |
vSphere 7.0 | 02 Apr 2020 | 02 Apr 2025 | 02 Apr 2027 |
You might still get technical advice from VMware before EoTG if you have an active VMware support even if your vSphere version is out of general support. However you won’t be able to log high priority P1 tickets with VMware after EoGS.
In terms of licensing, there is no requirement for upgrading license keys if you are upgrading from 6.0 to 6.5 or 6.7 as they are all vSphere version 6.x. But if you are planning to upgrade to vSphere 7.0, the vSphere 6.x licenses won’t work on upgraded products and you will need to assign new Licenses.
I you have an active subscription and support with VMware then you can easily upgrade you vSphere licenses via myVMware portal. Otherwise check out the below link and check your license upgrade eligibility with VMware.
https://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/upgrade-center.html#licensing