Juniper EX9251, EX9253 and EX9200 BASE3A Systems End of Life: End of Support March 31, 2027
Juniper ends support for the EX9251 and EX9253 switches, the EX9204, EX9208 and EX9214 BASE3A systems and the EX9200 line cards sold with them on March 31, 2027. All of them sit on one row of Juniper's EX Series Hardware Dates and Milestones page, from an End of Life announcement dated October 15, 2021. The last order date was March 31, 2022, so none of this hardware has been sold new for years; what ends next is Juniper's support. The same row prints one date in all four of its later columns: Last Date to Convert Warranty, Same Day Support Discontinued, Next Day Support Discontinued and End of Support. Live status and EOL Risk Score are on the EX9251, EX9253 and EX9200 BASE3A pages (EX9251 score: 18); every EX model Juniper has dated is on the Juniper EX Series page.
Key Dates at a Glance
- Juniper EX Series EX9251: last order date 2022-03-31; End of Support 2027-03-31
- Juniper EX Series EX9253: last order date 2022-03-31; End of Support 2027-03-31
- Juniper EX Series EX9200 (BASE3A bundles and line cards): last order date 2022-03-31; End of Support 2027-03-31
The dates, as Juniper prints them
Juniper's page has two tables. The newer one, used since Juniper updated the list of milestones it tracks, carries End of Engineering and Last Software Version columns. The EX9251, EX9253 and BASE3A row is in the older table, which Juniper keeps "for your reference" and which has no End of Engineering or software column. Every SKU in the row shares the row's dates; this table splits them by product family the way this site tracks them.
| Product family (this site) | Last Order | End of Support |
|---|---|---|
| EX9251 | EX9251 last order March 31, 2022 | EX9251 End of Support March 31, 2027 |
| EX9253 | EX9253 last order March 31, 2022 | EX9253 End of Support March 31, 2027 |
| EX9200 BASE3A bundles and line cards | BASE3A last order March 31, 2022 | BASE3A End of Support March 31, 2027 |
Juniper's row has no End of Engineering date, so its public page does not say when bug fixes for this hardware stopped before End of Support. The Last Date to Convert Warranty, Same Day Support Discontinued and Next Day Support Discontinued columns all carry the End of Support date, which means the faster hardware-replacement service levels last as long as support itself, under a contract that includes them.
What End of Support means, in Juniper's words
Juniper's Product End of Life Policy and Procedure, linked from the milestones page, defines the two milestones that matter here:
| Juniper's term | Juniper's definition |
|---|---|
| Last Order Date (LOD) or End of Sale | "The last date on which purchase orders must be placed for the affected Juniper Product and for new support services contracts for such Product." |
| End of Support (EOS) | "The last date to receive maintenance support (i.e., access to Juniper technical support engineers, access to software releases, Online tools, Hardware replacement. But, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding engineering support) for the affected Juniper Product." |
Two consequences follow. The last order date was also the last date to place a new support services contract for these products, so a site with no contract now cannot start one under that policy wording. And the same policy says support of any kind is "contingent upon that customer having a valid, unexpired support service contract": End of Support is the outer limit of what an existing contract covers, not support a switch gets without one.
Which part numbers the notice covers
Juniper's row lists the SKUs below, grouped here by family. Every part number is copied from the vendor row.
- EX9251: EX9251-8X4C, EX9251-8X4C-DC, EX9251-8X4C-DC-T, EX9251-8X4C-T, EX9251-CHAS, and the EX9251-AFL and EX9251-ML licences.
- EX9253: EX9253-6Q12C, EX9253-6Q12C-M, EX9253-AC-BND1, EX9253-BASE-AC, EX9253-BASE-AC-T, EX9253-BASE-DC, EX9253-RED-AC, EX9253-RED-AC-T, EX9253-RED-DC, EX9253-CHAS-3RU, EX9253-RE, EX9253-FDR, and the EX9253-AFL, EX9253-ML and EX9253-SFL licences.
- EX9204, EX9208 and EX9214 3A systems: for each chassis the BASE3A-AC, BASE3A-AC-T, RED3A-AC-T, REDUND3A-AC and REDUND3A-DC bundles (for example EX9204-BASE3A-AC or EX9214-REDUND3A-DC), plus the EX9204-AC-BND1 and EX9204-AC-BND2 bundles.
- EX9200 line cards and routing engine: EX9200-2C-8XS, EX9200-32XS, EX9200-40F, EX9200-40F-M, EX9200-40T, EX9200-6QS and EX9200-RE.
Not every EX9200 part is on this notice. Juniper's page has two earlier EX9200 rows: one for the first-generation EX9204, EX9208 and EX9214 bundles and the EX9200-SF, whose later milestones the page refers to TSB17394 instead of printing dates, and one for the EX9200-4QS line card. No row on the page lists a bare EX9204, EX9208 or EX9214 chassis SKU or any EX9200 line card not named above, so a part number missing from every row has no End of Life date on Juniper's public page. Check the part numbers in your inventory or on Juniper's installed-base report, not the chassis name.
Why the date matters for a core switch
These switches sit in the campus core and the data-centre aggregation layer, so a failure or an unpatched flaw affects everything behind it. After March 31, 2027 Juniper's policy gives these systems no software release downloads, no TAC case handling and no hardware replacement: a failed routing engine, line card or power supply is replaced from your own spares or the secondary market, and a Junos flaw found later reaches them through no Juniper channel. Junos OS on EX Series is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: CVE-2023-36844, CVE-2023-36845 and CVE-2023-36847 are listed under names that include Juniper Junos OS EX Series. The Junos OS page tracks every release line and its own End of Support date.
What replaces them
Juniper's policy says an End of Life Notification "may also contain other key information pertaining to Juniper Products, such as recommended replacement Product(s)". The notification for this row is linked from Juniper's milestones page, but it opens on Juniper's support portal behind a Juniper sign-in, and we could not read it publicly. The public milestones page names no successor, so this guide does not name one. The notification itself, or a Juniper or HPE account team, is the source for the recommended replacement and any migration terms.
What to do
- Inventory by part number: list every EX9251, EX9253, EX9204, EX9208 and EX9214 chassis, routing engine and line card, and match each SKU against the lists above. A chassis can mix covered and uncovered parts.
- Check your contract end date: a support contract on these systems cannot run past March 31, 2027 for Juniper maintenance support. Know which renewal is the last one.
- Put the core replacement in this budget cycle: a modular core switch replacement means design, optics, cabling and a cut-over window. Starting it after End of Support leaves the core with no TAC and no hardware replacement while the project runs.
- Hold spares until cut-over: after End of Support, Juniper hardware replacement ends. Routing engines, power supplies and the line cards in use are the parts to stock.
- Check every EX model, not one: the Juniper EX Series page re-reads Juniper's table at every build; the EOL Checker answers for a single model.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Juniper EX9251 and EX9253 end of support?
Juniper's EX Series Hardware Dates and Milestones page lists the EX9251, the EX9253, the EX9204, EX9208 and EX9214 BASE3A bundles and the EX9200 line cards named in the same notice on one End of Life row, with a Last Order date of March 31, 2022 and an End of Support date of March 31, 2027. The same row gives the same date for the last date to convert warranty and for the end of same-day and next-day support.
What ends at Juniper End of Support for the EX9200 switches?
Juniper's Product End of Life Policy and Procedure defines End of Support as the last date to receive maintenance support: access to Juniper technical support engineers, access to software releases, online tools and hardware replacement. After that date Juniper provides none of these for the affected product, under any contract.
What replaces the EX9251 and EX9253?
Juniper's End of Life policy says an End of Life Notification may name recommended replacement products. The notification for these systems sits on Juniper's support portal behind a Juniper sign-in, and the public hardware milestones page names no successor, so this guide does not name one. The notification or a Juniper account team is the source.
Is every EX9204, EX9208 and EX9214 end of life?
No row on Juniper's page covers the EX9204, EX9208 and EX9214 as whole product families. The 2021 notice covers the BASE3A and REDUND3A bundles of those chassis, two EX9204 AC bundles and a set of EX9200 line cards and the EX9200-RE; earlier notices cover the first-generation bundles and the EX9200-4QS. A part number on none of those rows has no End of Life date on the page.
Related
- Juniper EX Series — every EX model Juniper has dated, live status and EOL Risk Score
- Juniper EX4300-48MP and EX4600 end of life — the access and aggregation switches on Juniper's newer milestone table
- Junos OS — every Junos release line and its End of Engineering and End of Support dates
- Juniper QFX Series — the data center switch line, dated from Juniper's QFX milestones page
- Juniper MX Series — the routing platform, dated from Juniper's MX milestones page
- End of service life for hardware — what the date means for an appliance