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Supported Operating Systems for WSM

Supported Operating Systems for WatchGuard System Manager (WSM)

To determine when WatchGuard ends support for an operating system our applications run on, we follow the support lifecycle of the operating system vendor.  This post provides detail on how Microsoft's lifecycle affects this policy.

In the release notes of Fireware 12.8, WatchGuard identified that the supported operating systems for WSM and Management Server software will follow Microsoft’s Mainstream Support end dates for Windows and Windows Server. When Mainstream Support ends for these operating systems, WSM and Management Server will no longer support them in the next feature release.

Historically, we followed Microsoft’s Extended Support end dates for Windows and Windows Server operating systems, but this limited the ongoing updates we could make to WSM Client and Management Server software. By following the Mainstream Support end dates for these fixed lifecycle products, we can make updates that are not limited by the legacy development tools needed to support operating systems that no longer receive feature updates from Microsoft.

For more information see the Microsoft Fixed Lifecycle Policy.

How does this affect currently supported operating systems?

WSM 12.8 and 12.8.x maintenance releases will continue to support currently-supported operating systems that previously ended Mainstream Support. This includes these operating systems which previously ended Mainstream Support:

  • Windows 8 - 12 Jan 2016
  • Windows 8.1 - 9 Jan 2018
  • Windows Server 2012 - 9 Oct 2018
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 - 9 Oct 2018
  • Windows Server 2016 - 11 Jan 2022

Future feature releases for WSM, such as 12.9 and higher, will no longer support these operating systems.

WSM will continue to support these operating systems through their Mainstream Support end dates:

  • Windows 10 – Final retirement 14 October 2025
  • Windows 11 – Final retirement not announced. 21H2 supported by Microsoft through 8 October 2024.
  • Windows Server 2019 – Supported through 9 January 2024
  • Windows Server 2022 – Supported through 13 October 2026

For more information see Microsoft product lifecycle.



Fireware Release Notes always include an Operating System Compatibility Matrix, identifying supported operating systems for features in each release.

Filed under: Network Security