Cisco IOS XE End of Life (EOL) Dates and End of Support (EOS) Dates

Planning for Cisco IOS XE end of life starts with one question: when does your release stop getting fixes? This guide covers the dates for the Cisco network operating system built on a Linux kernel and used on routers, switches and wireless controllers, so you can move the platform and the product around it before support ends.

End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Milestones for Cisco IOS XE Software

Every Cisco IOS XE software release follows the same sequence. Cisco issues an end-of-life announcement, and after the end-of-sale date customers can no longer order that release. The EOL timeline then runs in fixed steps, shown here for an extended-support release of the Cisco software.

End-of-Life Milestones and the Last Date of Support

That final cutoff is the one that matters for your budget. Customers with active service contracts keep reaching the Technical Assistance Center (TAC) until then, under the terms of the service contract or warranty. After it, the hardware and the Cisco software are unsupported.

End of Vulnerability/Security Support

Patches stop earlier than general support. Once this milestone passes, a new PSIRT advisory leaves the release exposed, because Cisco ships no further security vulnerabilities fixes or bug fixes for it. Move to a supported version well before that date.

IOS XE 17 Release Dates and Support Timeline

This family is where most deployed software sits today. The support timeline below lists the long-term releases and their published dates, including the Cisco IOS XE 17.15 bulletin, which sets a last day to buy of March 30, 2026.

Extended Support and LTS Releases

Every third 17.x release is an LTS release with extended support: 30 months of critical fixes, then 18 months of security updates only. This sustaining support is why teams standardize on these Cisco versions of the software.

Standard Support Releases

The first and second releases in each group get standard support, with one year of critical bug fixes and security updates. Cisco ships software maintenance releases only during that window, so treat these builds as short-lived unless you plan a quick upgrade.

How an IOS XE Release Is Numbered and Delivered

Each IOS XE release has a fixed release date. The release naming convention uses a major release (the year), a minor release number and a maintenance release number, plus an optional letter for a special release. The first rebuild of 26.1.1 becomes 26.1.2, and a later rebuild adds a fourth number. Starting with 26.1.1, Cisco publishes two releases a year, about 6 months apart, and all of them get 48 months of support. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN follows the same release model, so Catalyst SD-WAN software on IOS XE devices follows the same EOL timeline, per Cisco's own statement.

General Availability and the Release Train

That date starts the IOS XE lifetime that ends at the last day of support. Each release train then gets scheduled maintenance releases until end-of-sale, and no software fixes follow once security support ends.

Software Lifecycle Planning Before Cisco IOS XE End of Life

A good plan treats the EoS notice as your trigger, not the final cutoff. Work through this checklist for each Cisco product in your network:

• Inventory every release and record its EOL date.
• Check each device against the software it can run.
• Schedule an upgrade while Cisco engineering still ships fixes.

Teams that wait often have to migrate in a rush, under the end-of-life policy.

Migration Options for Your Network

Cisco recommends moving to a newer long-term release, such as 17.18 or the 26.x line. These migration options keep the same hardware platform while restoring full lifecycle support.

End-of-Life Bulletin and Notifications

Each release gets its own end-of-life bulletin, a product bulletin with exact dates. Subscribe to Cisco notifications so every new announcement reaches your inbox.