| QNX Lifecycle FAQs | | | ________________________________________________________________________
Applicable Environment ________________________________________________________________________ - Topic: QNX Lifecycle Details: https://lifecycle.qnx.com
- SDP: 4.25, 6.3.2, 6.4.0, 6.4.1, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 7.0.0, 7.1.0, 8.0.0
- Target: All
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Solution / Recommendation________________________________________________________________________ FAQ details are also provided here.
GENERAL
Why is BlackBerry introducing a software lifecycle policy?
In order to ensure we provide our customers with continued innovation coupled with an enhanced ability to maintain and support QNX products over time, we are pleased to announce the introduction of official QNX product portfolio lifecycle timelines that will empower our customers to better plan their own product lifecycles with confidence. These defined product lifecycle timelines will allow BlackBerry, our customers, and our partners to work even more closely together to align our product planning, roadmap, and long-term support investments.
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What timelines should be expected for QNX products going forward?
* End of Sale and Standard Support (EOS) for foundational QNX products will typically occur 8 years after commercial release.
* End of Life (EOL) for foundational QNX product will typically occur 10 years after commercial release.
* The EOS and EOL lifecycle timelines are based on QNX® foundational products" major and medial (e.g. v6.4.x) release dates, but not minor (e.g. 6.4.1) release dates.
* Our foundational products include QNX® Software Development Platform (SDP), QNX® OS for Safety, QNX® Hypervisor, QNX® Hypervisor for Safety, and QNX® OS for Medical
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How will BlackBerry announce its transition to this new policy?
This policy and its impact to affected QNX products is being communicated to customers as well as via updates to QNX web properties in December 2021.
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What happens when End of Sale & Standard Support (EOS) is declared for a QNX product?
* EOS refers to the date as of which customer-licensed Runtime Components and Runtime Configurations can continue to be purchased and deployed, but customers will no longer be able to purchase new developer seats.
* BlackBerry will no longer provide updates for this version of the software, however, for the period between EOS and EOL (typically twenty-four (24) months), BlackBerry may, in its discretion, engage in commercially reasonable efforts to provide a resolution or a workaround for issues deemed by BlackBerry to be critical (particularly for those related to safety and security). Whether such resolution or workaround will be successful cannot be guaranteed. If the issue reported has already been resolved in a newer version, customers may be asked to update their software to the newer version.
* BlackBerry will continue to offer custom development and support for customers through Custom Services Plans (CSPs).
* After the typical twenty-four (24) months period from the EOS date, the QNX product will be declared End of Life (EOL), and BlackBerry will no longer accept or troubleshoot issues related to the specified version of software unless via a CSP.
* The EOS milestone also includes customers being notified of the planned EOL date for the QNX product if the EOL date has not already been published.
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What happens when EOL is declared for a QNX product?
* EOL refers to the date as of which the QNX product is no longer officially supported by BlackBerry. No software patches, security fixes or workarounds will be generated to resolve QNX product issues unless via a Custom Services Plan (CSP).
* Like at EOS,
*** Customer-licensed Runtime Components and Runtime Configurations can continue to be purchased and deployed, but customers will no longer be able to purchase new developer seats.
*** BlackBerry will offer to engage in custom development work and support for customers on QNX products via CSPs.
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Does this program include EOL terms for third-party technology that is sold by BlackBerry?
EOL terms for third-party technology that BlackBerry resells (such as CycurGATE Firewall, Adaptive Autosar, eAVB, etc.) may differ from what"s defined for QNX products since third-party reseller terms are different.
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What options do customers have to migrate from older QNX products to newer versions?
If such support is needed, the QNX Professional Services team offers customized Professional Services for our customers via CSPs to bring safe, secure and reliable QNX products to market on time, on budget, with quality, and can assist with assessing requirements to transition products built using older versions of QNX SDP to QNX SDP 7.1. For more information, please visit https://blackberry.qnx.com/en/professional-services/services-overview.
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Will there be tools to notify customers that QNX products they are using have reached EOS or EOL?
No, customers will be notified and can consult https://www.blackberry.com/us/en/support/software-support-life-cycle for more information. Customers who are unsure about what QNX products they"re currently using can consult the list of registered QNX products in their myQNX account profile at https://www.qnx.com/account/login.
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SUPPORT
How can customers access support for QNX products that have been declared EOS or EOL?
Customers who require continued support for QNX products that have been declared EOS or EOL can access such support via Custom Services Plans (CSPs). Such services offered after EOS or EOL may be provided at a new rate.
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Are existing Standard Maintenance & Support agreements affected by this announcement?
Yes, Standard Maintenance & Support agreements will end once the associated QNX product has been declared EOS.
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What happens if a customer renews Standard Maintenance and Support within 12 months of EOS?
The minimum duration of a Standard Maintenance and Support plan remains one year, unless the EOS date for the associated QNX product is scheduled to occur prior to the end of the next full year of support. In this case, customers can purchase support for less than one year only if they already have an active support plan and purchasing another full year would mean extending beyond the EOS date. As an example, a customer owns several development seats and the associated support plans expire at the end of June, and the QNX product for those development seats is scheduled to be declared EOS in December. If they are purchasing another development seat in June, they could purchase a 5-month support term for the new seat to cover the period of July to December.
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What happens to customers who have active Priority Service Plans (PSPs) or Custom Services Plans (CSPs) on QNX products that are slated to be declared EOS?
Customers with PSPs associated with QNX products that will reach EOS can continue until the plan is due for renewal, and can then transition to a shorter-term agreement that will conclude upon EOS (see question above on Standard Maintenance and Support). Customers with CSPs with work on versions slated for EOS can continue through the EOS date, however, amended rates for services delivered after EOS has been declared may appl y.
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When will BlackBerry stop addressing Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) on a given QNX product?
CVEs will stop being addressed once a QNX product has been declared End of Life (EOL).
Does BlackBerry guarantee to check for CVEs for QNX products that haven't reached EOL? If yes, within which timeframe will we check for CVEs?
BlackBerry monitors for CVEs and will take action to remediate vulnerabilities according to our vulnerability handling policy.
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How will BlackBerry respond to vulnerability reports targeting QNX Software Development Platform (SDP) products that have been declared EOL when derivative QNX safety products (such as QNX OS for Safety) based on the EOL SDP are still Generally Available?
Future public and private advisories for externally reported security vulnerabilities will not include QNX products that have been declared EOL. If the reported security vulnerability targets a commercially released QNX product that has not reached EOL (I.e., QNX OS for Safety 2.0.x), BlackBerry intends to issue a remediation for the reported vulnerability in accordance with our vulnerability handling policy.
Note: Updates for QNX products that have been declared EOL (or EOS) can still be received via a CSP.
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Are there any examples of CSP engineering services provided for a QNX product that is EOS as compared to a QNX product that is EOL?
The scope of requests for engineering services on QNX products that have been declared EOS or EOL will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
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Are customers with existing long term support contracts affected by declaration of EOS or EOL?
No, any agreements with support terms that extend beyond scheduled EOS or EOL dates will remain in effect.
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Currently, having an active Maintenance and Support agreement is a prerequisite to engage in a CSP. Will this prerequisite be removed for EOS and EOL QNX products?
Having an active Maintenance and Support agreement will not be a prerequisite for entering into a CSP for a QNX product that has been declared EOS or EOL.
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Will BlackBerry ensure software packages for QNX products that have been declared EOS or EOL are installable and working even past EOS and EOL?
No, since Maintenance and Support is no longer provided on QNX products that have been declared EOS or EOL, a CSP will be required to acquire support in the event of any future customer issues with software packages.
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Will QNX SDP 6.5 and 6.6 be removed from Build Server subscriptions once past EOS/EOL?
Customers can continue renewing their Build Server subscriptions (Enterprise, Standard or CI Build Server) after EOS/EOL but support will only be available via a CSP from declaration of EOS or EOL. However, if the Build Server subscription lapses, it cannot be renewed.
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SALES
Can customers continue purchasing a QNX product after it has been declared EOS or EOL?
As noted above, customer-licensed Runtime Components and Runtime Configurations can continue to be purchased and deployed, but customers will no longer be able to purchase new developer seats.
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Can customers execute a new OEM License Agreement (OLA), amend an existing OLA or purchase Runtime Bundles after the QNX product has been declared EOS or EOL?
Yes, a new OLA can be executed, and Runtime Bundles can still be purchased with the understanding that the QNX product has entered the EOS or EOL QNX product lifecycle phase, which means support can only be delivered via a CSP. However, runtime components that have not previously been purchased by that customer and have been declared EOL cannot be added to an OLA.
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Can development seat subscriptions be purchased in the period between declaration of EOS and EOL?
Customers can continue renewing their development seat subscriptions after EOS but support will only be available via a CSP from declaration of EOS onward. However, if the development seat subscription lapses, it cannot be renewed.
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Can subscription development seats be purchased after EOL has been declared?
Customers can continue renewing their development seat subscriptions after EOL but support will only be available via a CSP onward. However, if the development seat subscription lapses, it cannot be renewed.
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If users have QNX SDP 7.x dev seats, can those users still be granted access to older development seats which are declared EOS or EOL?
No, however customers can prepurchase older development seats prior to EOL.
________________________________________________________________________ NOTE:
This entry has been validated against the SDP version listed above. Use
caution when considering this advice for any other SDP version. For
supported releases, please reach out to QNX Technical Support if you have any questions/concerns. ________________________________________________________________________ |
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