End of support for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 – what this means for you

On January 14th 2020 Microsoft are ending all support for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

This means that Microsoft will no longer provide patches and updates for those versions of Windows. So after January 14th 2020 any sites or applications running on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 may be vulnerable to new security threats or encounter new issues/bugs that will not be fixed by Microsoft in the future.

If you have any application running on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 then you need to take action now to ensure you are supported in the future and protected from new threats or issues.

I’m an Episerver customer, does this affect me?

If you are running an older version of Episerver then your site may be running on a version of Windows that is affected. This means you may be in a situation where Microsoft does not support the operating system your Episerver site is running. This means the operating system itself may be vulnerable to security threats or bugs in Windows that will not be fixed.

If you are running a recent version of Episerver then you are probably not affected, however some older versions of Episerver could run on Windows Server 2008 so you will need to check if you are affected using the list below.

The following versions of Episerver will definitely be affected:

• Episerver CMS 6 R2
• Episerver CMS 6
• Episerver CMS 5 R2 SP2
• Episerver CMS 5 R2 SP1
• Episerver CMS 5 R2

The following versions of Episerver may be affected:

• Episerver CMS 7.5
• Episerver CMS 7.1
• Episerver CMS 7

If you are running a version of Episerver older than the ones listed above then the version of Windows it is running on is already end of life and will not receive any updates from Microsoft.

I’m an Ektron customer, does this affect me?

If you are an Ektron customer then you should read this post specificly written for Ektron customers: Windows 2008 Support is Ending; What's Next for Ektron Customers?  

Your Episerver options

You have until January 14th 2020 before Microsoft ends support but you should starting planning what you want to do now:

• Migrate - You can migrate to the Episerver Digital Experience Cloud Service. This approach allows you take to take advantage of the great new features of the latest version of Episerver and have your entire site delivered as a fully managed service from Episerver.
• Upgrade – Episerver has always supported migrations between versions so you could upgrade your site to the latest version of Episerver, though this would also require a Windows Server upgrade.
• Accept the risk – Episerver or the server it is running on is not going to stop working after this date, though you will leave yourself open to new threats affecting Microsoft software.

What should I do now?

In the first instance you should talk to your local Episerver office or implementation partner to discuss your options.

More information

More information can be found on the Microsoft site below:

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/windows-server-2008