Azul support tiers and lifecycle are the parts of the Azul Software Agreement that determine what a paid Azul subscription delivers. For Azul Platform Core, the licence to run the software is perpetual and support is the thing sold. Its Software Services are “Time-based Support Services for the Product”.[1] Exhibit B sets out the Support Services. They consist of error corrections for the customer’s Designated Support Contacts, Product updates, access to the support portal and download site, and case tracking and escalation. “Certain benefits of Support Services depend on the support tier which has been selected and paid for by Customer.”[1] The same Exhibit contains the Product Lifecycle Policy, which fixes how long each Java release is supported. Exhibit D adds a paid Legacy Production Support term for Java 6 and 7.[1] For the general concepts, see software maintenance and support.
Editions
The agreement names three Support Tiers: Standard, Premium and Platinum. Exhibit B treats Premium and Platinum together.[1] The Azul Core product page offers “two levels”, Standard and Premium,[2] and Azul Payara is also sold at Standard or Premium.[7]
| Benefit (Exhibit B) | Standard | Platinum or Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Support hours and first response | Standard Business Hours (7:00 to 19:00 Pacific, business days); next business day | 24x7x365; 1 hour[1] |
| Downloads and fixes | Regular quarterly releases | Quarterly releases, Early Access and Hot Fixes[1] |
| Tickets | 6 Tickets per year | Unlimited[1] |
| Target response, Priority 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | 1 / 2 / 2 / 2 Business Days | 1 hour / 4 hours / 1 Business Day / 2 Business Days[1] |
| Indemnification | Azul-created Product only | Extended to Third-Party Software and anti-contamination provisions[1] |
Catalog proof: Standard tier is limited to 6 Tickets per year; Designated Support Contacts scale with Units; Platinum/Premium tiers extend indemnification to third-party software and anti-contamination. The Intelligence Cloud agreement uses the same Standard and Platinum or Premium split for hours, Tickets and response targets.[9]
Metrics
Support is bought per Unit and per tier. The Support Tier is recorded against the Units in each Order, and a single estate can hold Units at different tiers. The customer “may not use Support Services … purchased with a given Support Tier” for installations that were bought at a lower tier.[1] The underlying metrics are the Azul Core Unit (Virtual Core), the Azul Core Unit (Desktop), the Azul Prime Unit (Virtual Core) and, for Intelligence Cloud, Distinct JVMs. Catalog proof: Higher-tier support cannot be used for installations bought at a lower tier.
Counting / floors
Designated Support Contacts (Rev July-2025). The customer may contact Azul only through its Designated Support Contacts. The number allowed depends on Units purchased and Support Tier:[1]
| Units | Azul Platform Core: Standard | Core: Premium/Platinum | Azul Platform Prime: Standard | Prime: Premium | Prime: Platinum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 1,000 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 1,001 to 2,000 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 2,001 to 5,000 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 5,001 to 10,000 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| 10,001 to 20,000 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 12 |
| 20,001 and over | 4 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 15 |
Tickets. Standard tier includes 6 Tickets per year. A Ticket is a formal support case documenting a unique issue.[1]
Update SLAs (Rev July-2025). Exhibits A-1 and A-2 set how quickly Azul updates its builds after an OpenJDK update reaches General Availability. The deadlines differ by tier:[1]
| Product | Security fixes with a CVE | All other fixes and updates |
|---|---|---|
| Azul Platform Core, Premium/Platinum | 48 hours on covered platforms; 15 days otherwise | 7 days on covered platforms; 15 days otherwise |
| Azul Platform Core, Standard | 15 days on covered platforms; 30 days otherwise | 30 days |
| Azul Platform Prime, Platinum / Premium / Standard | 48 hours / 7 days / 15 days | 30 days |
The shorter Core times apply only to “Azul Zulu Builds of OpenJDK for 64-bit Java versions 8 onward running on ARM64 processors and x86 processors on Linux, Windows and macOS operating systems”.[1] The Azul Core page shows a quarterly CPU SLA of “Max 15 days” for Standard and “Max 48 hours” for Premium.[2] The data sheet shows the same.[3] Catalog proof: Security update SLA: 48 hours (Premium/Platinum) or 15 days (Standard) for covered platforms.
Exclusions. Azul has no obligation to support altered Products or versions outside the Product Lifecycle Policy. Unsupported hardware, and components marked “Feature Preview”, “Early Access”, “Not Supported” or “Experimental”, are also excluded.[1]
Lifecycle
Contract policy (Rev July-2025). Support runs from the Java Major Release Date in two phases. Production Support brings maintenance updates, error corrections and security fixes. Extended Support mainly identifies Workarounds and may direct the customer to upgrade.[1] Each Major Release is designated as follows:[1]
| Designation | Production Support (from Java Major Release Date) | Extended Support (after Production Support) |
|---|---|---|
| LTS | 8 years | 2 years |
| MTS | 1.5 years from general availability of the next LTS release | 1 year |
| STS | 1 year | 6 months |
Catalog proof: Contractual lifecycle: LTS 8 years Production plus 2 years Extended Support.
Documentation and roadmap. The Azul Core documentation and the roadmap use only the LTS and STS designations. They give LTS releases at least eight years of Production Support followed by two years of Extended Support. STS releases get “at least six months of Production Support”.[5][4] The contract template’s one year for STS is longer than that minimum, and where the two differ the signed agreement governs. The documentation says Extended Support brings migration assistance “not further fixes”. After the end-of-support date, previously published builds stay available but no new fixes arrive.[5] Catalog proof: Documentation and roadmap: STS releases get at least six months of Production Support.
End of Production Support dates. The roadmap gives these dates for Azul Core; Azul Prime matches from Java 8 onward:[4]
| Java SE | Designation | Azul Core end of Production Support | Azul Prime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java 6 | LTS | Dec 2018; Dec 2029 with Legacy Production Support | Apr 2017 |
| Java 7 | LTS | Jul 2022; Dec 2029 with Legacy Production Support | Dec 2021 |
| Java 8 | LTS | Dec 2030 | Dec 2030 |
| Java 11 | LTS | Jan 2032 | Jan 2032 |
| Java 17 | LTS | Sept 2029 | Sept 2029 |
| Java 21 | LTS | Sept 2031 | Sept 2031 |
| Java 25 | LTS | Sept 2033 | Sept 2033 |
| Java 27 | STS | Mar 2027 | Mar 2027 |
The roadmap notes that these are end dates of Production Support. Two years of Extended Support are added for LTS releases.[4]
Programs
- Legacy Production Support (Exhibit D, Rev July-2025). LPS covers support for “the Products, Applets, and/or Separately Licensed Software” named in an Order.[1] The documentation describes it as a paid term, formerly called Extended Production Support. It carries Java 6 and Java 7 to December 2029 and covers Java Applets and Java Web Start.[5] Builds provided during the period are not TCK-tested.[4] Separately Licensed Software, such as Azul builds of IcedTea-Web, stays under the licence in its downloaded bundle, and its support is not Support Services under the Agreement.[1] For Applets and Separately Licensed Software, the First Response target is three Business Days.[1] The data sheet also shows December 2029 for Java 6 and 7.[3] The older Azul Core vs Free OpenJDK page shows December 2027.[8] Catalog proof: Java 6 and 7 support to December 2029 only with Legacy Production Support; extra builds not TCK-tested; Software supported under Legacy Production Support keeps its own licence.
- Azul Payara lifecycle. Azul Payara Server and Azul Payara Micro move through three phases. Full Support brings monthly releases and fixes. Extended Support brings security fixes and fixes on request. Lifetime Support is “Contracted, renewed annually, reviewed yearly with one year’s notice”.[6] Payara 6 moves to Extended Support in Q3 2028 and reaches end of life in Q3 2030. Payara 5 moves to Extended Support in Q2 2027 and reaches end of life in Q2 2029. Payara 4 has been under Lifetime Support since Q2 2025, and that support runs while the corresponding Java version is supported.[6] Catalog proof: Azul Payara 4 is available only under contracted Lifetime Support from Q2 2025.
Contract terms
Support Services are available only while Software Services are active and the customer is in material compliance with the Agreement. Azul has no obligation to support the customer’s end users.[1] Azul will use commercially reasonable efforts to meet the target response times. It “makes no promises, guarantees, or assurances of any kind that it will be able to resolve all of Customer’s Support Services requests”.[1] Exhibit B describes itself as a service contract and not a product warranty.[1]
Out of scope
This page does not cover tier pricing, which Azul does not publish, or the Oracle Java SE support roadmap, for which see Oracle Java SE licensing. Nor does it cover Azul migration and advisory services, or the Payara support terms beyond the lifecycle page, which are not published on azul.com.