Support roadmap for the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK
This article describes the support policy and roadmap for the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK binaries.
OpenJDK is the open source reference implementation of the Java SE Platform (Language and Virtual Machine), with its upstream project governed by Oracle Corporation at openjdk.java.net and with source code available at github.com/openjdk. The project is released under the GNU General Public License version 2 with Classpath Exception (GPLv2+CE). Java and OpenJDK are trademarks of Oracle Corporation.
The Microsoft Build of OpenJDK refers to a binary, or binaries, of the OpenJDK project that are compiled, packaged, and tested by Microsoft. Long-Term Support (LTS) releases of the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK are also tested against the Oracle’s Java Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK).
Support policy
This support policy applies to Long-Term Support (LTS) releases of the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK. The LTS releases of Microsoft Build of OpenJDK will receive quarterly updates, available through microsoft.com/openjdk. Access to quarterly updates of Microsoft Builds of OpenJDK are free of charge and available to anyone, and can be deployed anywhere as per the license of the software.
Microsoft Build of OpenJDK binaries may contain new or backported fixes, security fixes, and enhancements that we deem important to our customers and our internal users. Certain changes may have not been (and may not ever be) incorporated in the upstream OpenJDK project due to decisions outside of Microsoft’s control. Fixes, security fixes, and enhancements that have not yet been formally upstreamed will be clearly signposted in our release notes, with source code available.
Commercial support
Commercial support is only available for Microsoft Azure customers with active Azure Support Plans and only covers Java workloads deployed to Azure and Azure Stack services, and Azure Arc clusters. If you have an issue with the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK within an Azure environment, please submit a support request.
Microsoft Build of OpenJDK commercial support follows Microsoft's Modern Lifecycle Policy.
Community support
For all other scenarios, users of Microsoft Build of OpenJDK, including LTS and non-LTS releases are welcome to raise issues, provide feedback, and start discussions at github.com/microsoft/openjdk.
Release and servicing roadmap
The OpenJDK project releases new versions of Java every 6 months. Vendors of OpenJDK binaries provide different support timelines for different versions of OpenJDK. Microsoft's support timeline for LTS releases of this build are described below.
The following table shows the support roadmap for the existing LTS releases of Microsoft Build of OpenJDK.
| Version | Microsoft Build of OpenJDK release date | OpenJDK release date | Earliest end-of-support date |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenJDK 11 LTS | May, 2021 | September, 2018 | September, 2027 |
| OpenJDK 17 LTS | September, 2021 | September, 2021 | September, 2027 |
| OpenJDK 21 LTS | September, 2023 | September, 2023 | September, 2028 |
Within a release's support lifecycle, systems must remain current on the latest update to receive commercial support. Updates for Microsoft Builds of OpenJDK are released every quarter: January, April, July, and October.
The earliest end-of-support dates published above are initial targets. Microsoft may extend support for its LTS releases.
For more information, see the Modern Lifecycle Policy.
System requirements
The following table shows the certified hardware architectures for the LTS releases of Microsoft Build of OpenJDK.
| Version | Architecture | Linux | macOS | Windows | Alpine (musl) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenJDK 11 LTS | x64 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AArch64 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| OpenJDK 17 LTS | x64 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AArch64 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| OpenJDK 21 LTS | x64 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| AArch64 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Operating systems and Linux distributions
Microsoft Build of OpenJDK is available for Linux, Windows, and macOS, on up-to-date and actively maintained versions of these operating systems and/or their distributions, for as long as they are continually receiving security fixes.
Other versions and releases
Microsoft may release binaries of Microsoft Build of OpenJDK for other versions of OpenJDK – besides the ones listed above – without Long-Term Support. Microsoft will not provide commercial support for non-LTS releases, and reserves the right to not provide quarterly updates for non-LTS releases.
Java 8
A limited set of Azure services may offer a runtime for Java 8, or run on Java 8. In these scenarios, Microsoft relies on Eclipse Temurin builds of OpenJDK for Java 8. Customers willing to build and deploy Java 8 applications on Azure are encouraged to download binaries directly from the Eclipse Adoptium website. Microsoft is committed to continue collaborating in the Eclipse Adoptium working group for the foreseable future. For more information on the support timeline, see the Eclipse Adoptium Support documentation.