How to Prepare for Adobe Commerce 2.3 End of Support

Platform and technology upgrades are an important part of a digital experience platform's lifecycle, and are key to providing innovative experiences that convert visitors to customers. This is particularly true of platforms like Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento Commerce Cloud).

Adobe continually strives to find the right balance between making product upgrades simple and predictable and delivering improvements and new features to early adopters faster. Security and functional patches are released on a regular basis, and are a good opportunity to keep your platform secure, reliable, and performant.

As new versions of the software are rolled out, it is inevitable that older versions will eventually reach a point where they are no longer supported by Adobe. A timely example of this is the upcoming end of support for the Adobe Commerce 2.3.x branch. Originally scheduled for April 2022, Adobe has shifted the 2.3 End of Support (EOS) date to September 8, 2022 to provide merchants with additional time to upgrade to 2.4.4 (just released).

Even with this extension, Northern and Adobe strongly recommend that merchants upgrade to 2.4.4. much sooner. Aside from including security and performance updates, Adobe Commerce 2.4.4 is fully compatible with PHP 8.1.

What does “end of support” mean?

With any software that continues to receive updates, the number of required changes will eventually become large enough that the software needs a new ‘version.’ In the case of Adobe Commerce, the 2.3.x version is set to expire in September 2022. 

Adobe's software is built using PHP at its core, and because the older 7.3 version of PHP is past the end of support, Adobe has moved the most current version of Adobe Commerce over to the PHP 8.1 so that it is future-proofed.

End of support means that previous versions will no longer be supported with bug fixes, security checks, and other updates. In some cases, the software will continue to function as it did but will not be protected against new malware or security vulnerabilities and will not have any new functionality. It’s important that software or digital platforms are kept up-to-date to maintain security and to get the best functionality from the products they use. 

Important Deadlines for Magento Users

As PHP 7.3 reached its end of support in December 2021, it’s important for organizations with digital experiences built using Adobe Commerce 2.3.x to upgrade to a 2.4.x release based on PHP 7.4 or 8.1 as soon as possible. The upgrade and deployment of Adobe Commerce and PHP can take between 4-12 weeks, depending on your organization’s existing environment. We recommend scheduling this upgrade well in advance of upcoming promotions, sales, special events, or seasonal surges in demand to ensure there is no downtime on your site during those critical periods. PHP 8.1 is the most current PHP version and is more efficient, faster, and more secure. that previous versions. Since newer versions of PHP are being actively supported and improved, upgrading to PHP 8.1 is the best way to get the most out of your eCommerce solution.

Adobe Commerce and  PHP Upgrade Options

Speak with an Adobe Commerce specialist to learn more about the latest, most secure technologies before existing technologies reach their end-of-support state. These upgrades will also unlock future feature upgrades and enhancements.