Red Hat Enterprise Linux Support Life Cycle
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle Overview Red Hat provides support and maintenance during the stated time periods for each of the major releases of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), the "Life Cycle". The Life Cycle allows customers and partners to effectively plan, deploy and support Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Each major release of RHEL is denoted by a single number, i.e.: RHEL 4, RHEL 5, RHEL 6. The RHEL Life Cycle identifies the various levels of maintenance for each major release of RHEL over a total period of up to ten years from the initial release date, which is often referred to as the general availability (GA) date. The RHEL Life Cycle is designed to reduce the level of change within each major release over time, increasing predictability and decreasing maintenance costs. Red Hat published this Life Cycle in an effort to provide as much transparency as possible and may make exceptions from these policies as conflicts may arise. Software changes to RHEL are delivered