[CentOS] Is every CentOS release supported for 7 years?

[Kevin Krieser]

On May 22, 2010, at 1:09 PM, Aniruddha wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I've read some posts in the forums which seems to indicate that not
> every CentOS version is well supported. Is it possible to install
> CentOS 5.5 on a server and only apply security updates for 7 years? Or
> is the preferred way to upgrade to each minor version? Thanks in
> advance!
> 
> Relevant forum quotes:
> 
> Probably not relevant to the problem; however, the current release is
> 5.4 - 5.3 is getting seriously obsolete with respect to security
> problems and bugs.
> http://centos.caosity.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?viewmode=flat&order=ASC&topic_id=25069&forum=39&move=prev&topic_time=1267482814
> 
> If you really mean 5.0, it is seriously obsolete and has numerous
> known bugs and security issues that have been fixed in subsequent
> updates. Obsolete releases are not supported, nor is it advisable to
> be installing or running them. See the CentOS 5.5 Release Notes for
> details.
> https://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=26339&forum=37


The basic CentOS 5 is supported for a total of 7 years from initial release.  Since 5 first came out in April 2007, the support will last until April 2014.

5.2, 5.3, etc, are essentially wrap up releases of the basic CentOS 5, with all known fixes applied as of that time, along with new functionality provided by the upstream vendor.  So you can start with 5.5 and not have to download large amounts of fixes that starting with an older release would entail. 

Each increment doesn't start a 7 year support cycle, just the major CentOS 4, 5, etc.