NetBSD End of Life (EOL) Dates and End of Support (EOS) Dates
NetBSD end of life (EOL) and end of support (EOS) dates: 9 NetBSD versions have reached EOL, including NetBSD 9 (EOL date: Aug 31, 2026) — no longer receiving security updates or patches. NetBSD 11.0 is the current supported release — 2 versions in active support. Also see FortiOS EOSL information for related end-of-life information.
Currently Supported NetBSD Releases - Active EOS/EOSL Support (2)
NetBSD End of Life (EOL) Releases - No Longer Supported (9)
| Release | Released | Security Support | Active Support | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | (6 years and 8 months ago) | (2 months ago) | (2 years and 7 months ago) | 9.5 (2 months ago) |
| 8 | (8 years and 3 months ago) | (2 years and 5 months ago) | (6 years and 8 months ago) | 8.3 (2 years and 5 months ago) |
| 7 | (11 years and 1 month ago) | (6 years and 4 months ago) | (8 years and 3 months ago) | 7.2 (8 years and 2 months ago) |
| 6 | (14 years ago) | (8 years and 2 months ago) | (11 years and 1 month ago) | 6.1.5 (12 years and 1 month ago) |
| 5 | (17 years and 6 months ago) | (10 years and 11 months ago) | (14 years ago) | 5.2.3 (11 years and 11 months ago) |
| 4 | (18 years and 10 months ago) | — | (17 years and 6 months ago) | 4.0.1 (18 years ago) |
| 3 | (20 years and 10 months ago) | (17 years and 5 months ago) | (18 years and 10 months ago) | 3.1 (19 years and 11 months ago) |
| 2 | (21 years and 10 months ago) | (18 years and 2 months ago) | (20 years and 10 months ago) | 2.1 (20 years and 11 months ago) |
| 1 | (32 years ago) | (20 years and 5 months ago) | (21 years and 10 months ago) | 1.6.2 (22 years and 8 months ago) |
Your NetBSD end of life date depends on the branch you run: NetBSD 9 and older get no more fixes, while 10 and 11 are still covered. As a portable unix-like operating system and a platform built for stability, NetBSD retires each branch on a fixed schedule, and the guide below lists which are covered today and when older ones stopped.
NetBSD End of Life: Supported Releases by Branch
The project maintains the NetBSD 10 and NetBSD 11 branches, while NetBSD 9 and everything older is no longer supported. NetBSD 11.0, the latest release, arrived on 30 July 2026, and NetBSD 10.2 followed on 15 September 2026.
Supported Branches Right Now
At any given time, three branches typically receive security patches and bug fixes: the development branch snapshots called netbsd-current, the latest major release, and the prior major release. For one month after a new major release, the line before those two stays covered as well, which briefly makes four.
How Each Major Release Gets Retired
The support policy is simple: a line, including every one of its point releases, becomes unsupported one month after the second following version ships. NetBSD 9 therefore lost coverage once NetBSD 11.0 appeared. Expect a new version every two to three years, with point updates every six to twelve months. If versions ever arrive much closer together, the project says it will revisit the rule.
End of Support Dates in the History of NetBSD Releases
The table follows the formal release history, showing when each line shipped and when its support ended. Lines still maintained have no end date.
| Release | Released | End of support |
|---|---|---|
| NetBSD 11 | 30 July 2026 | Still supported |
| NetBSD 10 | 28 March 2024 | Still supported |
| NetBSD 9 | 14 February 2020 | 31 August 2026 |
| NetBSD 8 | 17 July 2018 | 4 May 2024 |
| NetBSD 7 | 25 September 2015 | 30 June 2020 |
| NetBSD 6 | 17 October 2012 | 23 August 2018 |
| NetBSD 5 | 29 April 2009 | 11 November 2015 |
Release Date and Security Support Details
The release date of 9.5 and its retirement coincide on 31 August 2026. Active support for NetBSD 10 ended on 30 July 2026, yet it keeps security support because it is still one of the two newest lines.
Reading the Final Update of a Release Branch
When a release branch ends, its last point release says so. Older pages describe 6.1.5 as a security/bugfix update, while the final update for NetBSD 9 was 9.5, which promises no more pullups. That is the practical eol for netbsd 9: the code still runs, but new defects stay unpatched.
NetBSD 9.5 Release Announcements
The 31 August 2026 announcement calls 9.5 the last update of netbsd-9 and marks the end-of-life of that branch.
NetBSD 10.2 Release Announcements
On 15 September 2026 the project published 10.2 as the second update of netbsd-10, so that line keeps receiving fixes.
NetBSD 11.0 Release Announcements
Seven release candidate builds, from RC1 on 6 February 2026 to RC7 on 21 July 2026, preceded NetBSD 11.0, the nineteenth version of the operating system. Its change notes cover work from the kernel outward.
Upgrade Steps Before Your Release Is No Longer Supported
Once a branch is unsupported, the fix is to move to a supported release and keep receiving security fixes. A formal release suits anyone who wants stability instead of the bleeding edge, and binaries plus sources for the stable branches are rebuilt daily or weekly.
Check Your Version With uname -r
Run uname -r and compare the output with the table above. If it reports 9.x or lower, plan an upgrade to 10 or 11.
Follow Security Advisories and the Mailing List
NetBSD publishes security advisories on its announcement mailing list, and the security updates also arrive over RSS. Developers and contributors post daily snapshots of the release branches, and a calendar feed lists each retirement date.