End of general user support for Scientific Linux CERN 5 (SLC5) - 31st of March 2017

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What is Scientific Linux CERN 5 (SLC5)

Scientific Linux CERN 5 is a Linux distribution build within the framework of Scientific Linux which in turn is rebuilt from the freely available Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (Server) product sources under terms and conditions of the Red Hat EULA. Scientific Linux CERN is built to integrate into the CERN computing environment but it is not a site-specific product: all CERN site customizations are optional and can be deactivated for external users.

Documentation

Scientific Linux CERN 5 Support Lifetime

Since SLC/SL are based on sources of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL5) sources the support lifetime cannot be longer than the one proposed by Red Hat. Due to CERN environment constraints (available manpower, hardware purchases procedures .. etc.) Scientific Linux CERN 5 Lifetime may be actually shorter than RHEL5 one, subject to Linux Certification Committee decision.
At present following End of Support dates are foreseen: As approved on September 2016 Linux Certification Committee meeting and presented on October 2016 IT Technical Users Meeting general user support for SLC5 will end on 31st of March 2017.

Dedicated support for experiments and accelerator controls will be maintained for four months after LHC Long Shutdown 2 start: until 31st of March 2019.

In addition to the above dates please note that from Q4 2012 we will not accept any request for new features. From Q1 2014 only security updates will be provided (except for CERN-specific software included). (please see: RHEL5 product support life cycle)

Certification status

Formal certification has ended and Scientific Linux 5 CERN (SLC5) has been declared as fully certified, supported and recommended Linux version for production use at CERN as of 11th of January 2010. The certification status page contains details about certification procedure and its status.

Current SLC5 release

Current release is Scientific Linux CERN 5.11 released on 6th of October 2014. It merges all updates released since previous releases in the installation tree.