What changes were made to the PANOS Software Release Guidance Page
Question
WHY were changes made to the Support PAN-OS Software Release Guidance Page ?
WHAT changes were made to the Support PAN-OS Software Release Guidance Page ?
WHAT information from the old Support PAN-OS Software Release Guidance page is excluded from this new page ?
Environment
- PAN-OS
- Panorama
- GlobalProtect
- UserID Agent/Terminal Services Agent
Answer
WHY were changes made to the Support PAN-OS Software Release Guidance Page ?
Based on feedback received, the page was restructured to present a streamlined view of the "current preferred" software versions. The intent is to communicate the most relevant data in a simple and easy-to-use format. The changes were necessary as navigating and interpreting the guidance was growing increasingly complex and cumbersome with a steady increase in list of product versions
WHAT changes were made to the Support PAN-OS Software Release Guidance Page ?
The new version of the Support PAN-OS Software Release Guidance page will now contain information only about the currently preferred releases.
Excluded from view are the release versions corresponding to the informal designations used in the Comments section i.e. "New release, currently monitoring", "Other release preferred", "Later release preferred"
WHAT information from the old Support PAN-OS Software Release Guidance page is excluded from this new page?
- Removed any references to “new release, currently monitoring” and “later release preferred” as well as the comments column (in favor of direct links to our TechDocs). Focus is on simple preferred releases per code branch with references to documented Release Notes and Addressed Issues.
- Direct links to Customer Advisory and CVEs removed
- Removed notes about a given release approaching EOL. Instead, we have chosen to add links under the PAN-OS table to the following external pages
Software EOL Dates | Hardware EOL Dates | Firewall-PAN-OS Compatibility Matrix | Panorama Plugins Compatibility Matrix - Removed historical listing of all GA releases - Customers are encouraged to use the Customer Support Portal for comprehensive information on release versions.
Login to the customer support portal
Select "Updates" from the list on the left hand side, then select "Software Updates" and user the filter to list release versions specific to the hardware platforms of choice categorized by "Release Type" i.e "Preferred", "CVE Remediated and Cert Remediated" and "Other"
NOTE TO CUSTOMERS: General guidance on PAN-OS upgrade:
- Cybersecurity best practices recommend upgrading once a year or once in 2 years;
Unless required earlier based on EOL dates as published here:
https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/services/support/end-of-life-announcements/end-of-life-summary#pan-os-panorama - PAN-OS upgrade planning decisions should also be informed by: regular review of issues encountered in your environment, applicable CVE fixes, required features, EOL PANOS versions
- New 'Preferred Release' does not imply/mandate release hopping - but should serve as a guide when evaluating a (potential) target upgrade version during upgrade planning.