Ceph Squid (19) End of Life: December 2, 2026, Ceph's Estimate
Ceph's estimated end-of-life date for Ceph Squid, the 19.2 release series, is December 2, 2026. That is the date on the Ceph project's own release index, where it is marked as an estimate, as every active release's date is. Squid was first released on September 26, 2024, so the date sits a little past the roughly 24 months Ceph's release cycle page describes for each stable series. After it, Squid moves to the archived table and stops receiving backports and bug fixes.
Ceph releases and their dates
| Release | Series | First released | End of life | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Umbrella | 21.2 | October 28, 2026 | June 1, 2028 (estimated) | Active |
| Tentacle | 20.2 | November 18, 2025 | June 1, 2027 (estimated) | Active |
| Squid | 19.2 | September 26, 2024 | December 2, 2026 (estimated) | Active until end of life |
| Reef | 18.2 | August 7, 2023 | March 20, 2026 | Archived |
| Quincy | 17.2 | April 19, 2022 | January 13, 2025 | Archived |
| Pacific | 16.2 | March 31, 2021 | March 4, 2024 | Archived |
Ceph names each release after a cephalopod and numbers it by the first letter (S is the 19th letter, so Squid is 19). The stable series for a release is x.2.z: Squid clusters run 19.2.something, and point releases arrive every four to six weeks while the series is active.
What end of life means for a Ceph cluster
Ceph's wording is direct: active releases "are actively maintained and receive periodic backports and security fixes", and archived releases "are no longer maintained (do not receive bug fixes or backports)". There is no critical-fixes-only tail as there is with some commercial products. After Squid is archived, the last 19.2 point release is the last one, and a data-loss bug or a security issue found afterwards is fixed only in Tentacle and later.
Two things soften that for operators. Ceph's cadence is slow and predictable, one stable release a year targeting March, and its lifetime rule is written down: approximately 24 months after the month of the first release, with backports for two full release cycles. And a running cluster does not stop at end of life; it just stops improving. The risk is in what accumulates after the date, on a system whose whole job is to keep data intact.
What to do
- On Reef (18) or older: already archived (Reef ended March 20, 2026). Upgrade now; every cluster on these series is running without fixes.
- On Squid (19): Ceph's estimated end of life for Squid is December 2, 2026. Two newer stable releases are active. Tentacle (20) comes with an estimated end of life of June 1, 2027. Umbrella (21), first released on October 28, 2026, is the newest; Ceph estimates its end of life as June 1, 2028. Check the upgrade notes of the release you move to for the releases it accepts as a starting point, and bring the cluster to the latest Squid point release before the jump.
- Plan the order. A Ceph upgrade walks the daemons in sequence: monitors, managers, OSDs, then metadata servers and gateways. The cluster stays online, but the run takes hours on a large one, and it should happen while Squid is still supported so a mid-upgrade problem has a fix path on both sides.
- Watch the next date. Tentacle's and Umbrella's end-of-life dates are estimates too, and Squid's has already moved once. Each becomes final only when Ceph moves the release to the archived table.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Ceph Squid end of life?
December 2, 2026, by the Ceph project's own estimate on its release index. Ceph marks end-of-life dates for active releases as estimated; the date becomes final when the release is moved to the archived table, as happened with Reef on March 20, 2026.
How long is a Ceph release supported?
About 24 months. Ceph's release cycle page says the lifetime of a stable release series is approximately 24 months after the month of the first release, with bug-fix backports for two full release cycles and stable point releases every 4 to 6 weeks in between.
Which Ceph release should Squid clusters move to?
Tentacle (20), released November 18, 2025, with an estimated end of life of June 1, 2027. Umbrella (21), first released on October 28, 2026, is the newest stable release; Ceph estimates its end of life as June 1, 2028. Check the upgrade notes of the release you move to for the releases it accepts as a starting point. Reef (18) reached end of life on March 20, 2026 and is archived.
Sources
- Ceph project, "Ceph Releases (index)" (docs.ceph.com/en/latest/releases): the active and archived release tables with first-release and end-of-life dates.
- Ceph project, "Ceph Releases (general)" (docs.ceph.com/en/latest/releases/general): the yearly cadence, the 24-month lifetime rule, point-release frequency and the naming convention.
Related
- Ceph — every release, live status and EOL Risk Score
- RHEL 9 life cycle — the platform most subscription Ceph clusters run on
- How we verify our dates