Windows Server End of Support: Key Dates

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

We’re energized to hear of customers already using Windows Server 2022 to power their apps, data, and infrastructure. We also understand that some customers need more time to modernize as support for older versions of Windows Server will eventually end. The purpose of this blog is to remind customers of the key dates and options for Windows Server 2008/R2 and 2012/R2 versions.

As outlined in this blog, there are several options to continue to run and protect Windows Server workloads. Customers can migrate to Azure to get free Extended Security Updates (ESUs) to protect their workloads while they are planning their upgrade to the latest version of Windows Server. They can also combine Extended Security Updates (ESUs) with Azure Hybrid Benefit to further increase savings on Azure. If customers need to remain on-premises for regulatory or compliance reasons, they can purchase Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for their on-premises servers, more about that below. For their on-premises servers, customers can use Azure Arc to take advantage of automated/scheduled ESU updates and installation as well as the security and governance capabilities in Azure.

Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 end of Year 2 of Extended Security Updates

For Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 customers, the end date for Year 2 of Extended Security Updates (ESUs) was January 11^th, 2022. End of Support for the third year of ESUs will be January 10^th, 2023 for Windows Server licenses.

Customers can get an additional fourth year of free ESUs only on Azure (including Azure Stack HCI, Azure Stack Hub, and other Azure products). With this, customers will have until January 9^th, 2024 for Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 to upgrade to a supported release.

Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 End of Support

For Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 customers, the end of support date is October 10^th, 2023.  These Extended Security Updates will be available for purchase no later than October 2022, but available for installation after the EOS date, October 10, 2023. ESUs will continue for three years, renewable on an annual basis, until the final date on October 13^th, 2026.

Purchasing Extended Security Updates

For customers that cannot meet the end of support deadline and have Software Assurance or subscription licenses under an enterprise agreement enrollment, and they cannot migrate their Windows Server to Azure, they will have the option to buy Extended Security Updates. For detailed instructions on how to purchase and activate Windows Server 2008/R2 Extended Security Updates, please see this blog post on Tech Community. More details about the purchase of Windows Server 2012/R2 Extended Security Updates will be published closer to the End of Support date.

Learn more about End of Support options

• Azure migration and modernization center with resources for every stage of your cloud migration.


• SQL Server and Windows Server Extended Security Updates resource page.


• Extended Security Updates Product Lifecycle page.


• Extended Security Updates Documentation.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.