Product Support Lifecycle

All of the latest released stable versions of Chocolatey products (Chocolatey CLI, Chocolatey GUI, Chocolatey Central Management, etc.) are fully supported and will periodically receive new features, bug fixes, and security fixes as appropriate. We recommend customers update to the latest versions to benefit from new features and fixes as they are released.

Pre-v1.0 Products

For any products that have not yet reached v1.0, only the latest version is supported. We will continue to add features, fix bugs, and address security concerns as normal while we work towards a v1.0 release.

Version 1.0+ Products

Once a product reaches v1.0, we recommend customers move to that version as soon as possible. We will not continue to support v0.x versions once a product reaches v1.0.

Version 2.0+ Products

Once a product reaches the second major release, the following will apply:

1. We will support the previous major version with security fixes for Chocolatey For Business customers.
   • For example: at v2.0, the latest v1.x version of the product will receive security fixes; at v3.0, only the latest v2.x version of the product will continue to receive security fixes.
2. We will support the previous major version with certain bug fixes (excepting bug fixes that require breaking changes) for Chocolatey For Business customers for six months following the release of the next major version.
3. No new features will be backported to the previous major version.

Supported Windows Versions

Chocolatey products' support for Windows Operating Systems follows Microsoft's Support Lifecycle: if the Windows version is supported by Microsoft, Chocolatey products are supported on that version of Windows.

This information is up-to-date as of 6 June 2023.

Clients

• Windows 11
• Windows 10 22H2
• Windows 10 21H2

Servers

• Windows Server 2022
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2008 R2 (in Azure only)

Maintenance and Support Contract Considerations for Perpetual License Customers

Having a Maintenance and Support contract with Chocolatey Software, Inc. consists of two parts:

• Maintenance - allows you to download newer versions of the licensed components of Chocolatey.
• Support - allows you to submit issue tickets to our Helpdesk and also have access to our Support Team.

During the active period of the contract, you have access to both Maintenance and Support. Once that expires, you would simply need to purchase that contract again to continue access to newer versions of those components.

A Perpetual License means that you have a license which never expires and you are able to use the Chocolatey Licensed Extension with versions of Chocolatey CLI that are compatible. While your Maintenance contract is valid, you are able to download updates to the licensed components.

A Perpetual License customer that does not have an active Maintenance contract will not be in a position to upgrade to the latest version of Chocolatey Licensed Extension. This can cause problems when there is a dependency that exists between a new version of Chocolatey CLI and Chocolatey Licensed Extension.

:choco-info: NOTE

We added the dependency requirement to the release notes of v1.0.0 of Chocolatey CLI but some customers continued to experience the issue. In the v1.0.1 and the v1.1.0 releases of Chocolatey CLI we implemented changes to allow Chocolatey CLI to work with the latest version of Chocolatey Licensed Extension. There are no guarantees that these changes will be applied in the same way to future versions.

If you are in this position, we suggest that you take one of the following actions:

• Request a Maintenance and Support contract renewal, upgrade the Chocolatey Licensed Extension to the latest version and then upgrade Chocolatey CLI.
• Forego the Maintenance and Support contract renewal and stay with the version of Chocolatey CLI and Chocolatey Licensed Extension that you use. To prevent accidental upgrade of Chocolatey CLI we would suggest that you pin to the version you use and ensure you are using an internal repository.

If you have any questions about your Perpetual License or your Maintenance and Support contract, please reach out to the Sales team.

Chocolatey Component Package Dependencies

Some of the Chocolatey component packages have dependencies on other Chocolatey components. The following table aims to illustrate those dependencies, based on the latest shipped version of each component. Please refer to our Support Lifecycle information for details on which versions are supported for licensed and open source customers.

:choco-warning: WARNING

Due to the nature of how Chocolatey package dependencies work, we can ensure that all the required package versions are installed. For example, if you were to install chocolateygui.extension then it would make sure that the following tree of packages, with as a minimum these package versions, are installed:

Package Name	Version
chocolateygui.extension	v2.0.0
chocolateygui	v2.0.0
chocolatey.extension	v6.0.0
chocolatey	v2.0.0

:choco-info: NOTE

Newer package versions may be available at the time of installation, and Chocolatey will pick the highest available that matches the defined dependency range.

However, there is nothing that can be done to ensure that indirect dependencies are satisfied. For example, if you currently have chocolateygui v0.18.1 installed along with chocolateygui.extension v0.2.1 and you first upgrade to chocolateygui v0.19.0, then you will see errors if you attempt to run Chocolatey GUI, since the chocolateygui.extension package also needs to be updated.

Based on the package releases, the recommended installation/upgrade order is the following:

• chocolateygui.extension
• chocolateygui
• chocolatey-agent
• chocolatey.extension
• chocolatey

This will ensure that all dependencies, both direct and indirect, are installed.