VMware Aria Automation End of Life (EOL) Dates & Support Timeline
Complete end-of-life dates, support windows, and security status for all VMware Aria Automation versions. Dates read at the vendor's own lifecycle pages (support.broadcom.com). Updated at every deploy.
VMware Aria Automation 8.18 is supported until October 11, 2027, its end-of-support date. It is also the next VMware Aria Automation version to reach end of life. 13 of 14 tracked VMware Aria Automation versions are past end of life; the most recent to reach it, 8.16, did so on February 20, 2025. The full VMware Aria Automation lifecycle, with every version's release and end-of-support date, is in the table below.
Running an EOL version? Get matched with support options — free ↓| Version | Latest Release | Release Date | EOL Date | Days | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.2 (vRealize Automation) | 8.2.0 | Oct 6, 2020 | Oct 31, 2022 | 1441 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.3 (vRealize Automation) | 8.3.0 | Feb 4, 2021 | Oct 31, 2022 | 1441 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.4 (vRealize Automation) | 8.4.2 | Apr 15, 2021 | Oct 31, 2022 | 1441 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.5 (vRealize Automation) | 8.5.1 | Aug 19, 2021 | Oct 31, 2022 | 1441 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.6 (vRealize Automation) | 8.6.2 | Oct 12, 2021 | Jan 18, 2023 | 1362 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.7 (vRealize Automation) | 8.7.0 | Mar 22, 2022 | Mar 22, 2023 | 1299 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.8 (vRealize Automation) | 8.8.2 | Apr 28, 2022 | Jul 12, 2023 | 1187 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.9 (vRealize Automation) | 8.9.1 | Aug 9, 2022 | Sep 6, 2023 | 1131 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.10 (vRealize Automation) | 8.10.2 | Oct 11, 2022 | Dec 6, 2023 | 1040 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.11 (vRealize Automation) | 8.11.2 | Jan 19, 2023 | Mar 21, 2024 | 934 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.12 | 8.12.2 | Apr 20, 2023 | Jun 29, 2024 | 834 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.13 | 8.13.1 | Aug 3, 2023 | Sep 7, 2024 | 764 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.16 | 8.16.1 | — | Feb 20, 2025 | 598 days past EOL | EOL |
| 8.18 | 8.18.1 | Jul 24, 2024 | Oct 11, 2027 | 365 days remaining | Active |
Live EOL badge for your README — updates automatically at every build.
[](https://endoflife.ai/vmware-aria-automation)
VMware Aria Automation lifecycle status — the real story
VMware Aria Automation (vRealize Automation until 8.11) is VMware's infrastructure automation platform, now sold inside VMware Cloud Foundation as VCF Automation. Its dates come from Broadcom's Product Lifecycle portal, which prints a General Availability and an End of Service date per build; "end of support" here is that End of Service, the same column the portal prints for vCenter and ESXi as their end of general support.
Before 8.18 Broadcom gave every Aria Automation build its own end of service twelve months after its release (for example 8.13 in August 2024 and 8.13.1 in September 2024), so a line's end here is the end of its newest build and the per-build dates are recorded in the data notes. The 8.18 line, current since July 2024, ends with vSphere 8.0 in October 2027. Aria Automation Orchestrator and Aria Automation Config (SaltStack) are separate components with their own rows and are not included. Broadcom prints no builds older than 8.2 (October 2020).
CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog has no entry naming Aria Automation or vRealize Automation (catalog 2026.10.08); its "VMware / Multiple Products" entry CVE-2022-22960 covered vRealize Automation 7.6, a line Broadcom no longer lists.
VMware Aria Automation release and support pattern
Across the 13 release lines with a published release date, VMware Aria Automation has shipped a new line roughly every 3 months (median interval). A line typically stays supported for about 1.2 years from its release to its end-of-life date (measured on the 13 lines with both dates published).
Of the 14 release lines tracked, 13 are past end of life and 1 is still within support. The newest line, 8.18, was released July 24, 2024. The next scheduled end of life is 8.18 on October 11, 2027 — 365 days from this build.
Computed from the tracked release data at every build — the figures above are the dates in the table, restated, not an editorial estimate.
What does VMware Aria Automation end of life mean for your organization?
When a version of VMware Aria Automation reaches end of life, the maintainers stop issuing security patches. Vulnerabilities discovered after this date are publicly disclosed on the National Vulnerability Database, exploit code appears on GitHub, and your systems remain permanently exposed.
The CVE blind spot: A CVE-based scan does not show the accumulation of unpatched vulnerabilities in EOL software. Some scanners flag unsupported versions of common products, but coverage varies, and none of them give you the date in advance. With a zero-day, nobody knows about the vulnerability. With EOL software, the vulnerability is public — listed, rated, and often weaponized — but no vendor patch is coming. This is one of the most dangerous gaps in enterprise security posture.
Organizations running EOL VMware Aria Automation should treat it as a vulnerability class in their risk register, apply compensating controls (network segmentation, enhanced monitoring, access restriction), and prioritize migration to a supported version.
Your options when VMware Aria Automation reaches end of life
There are four realistic paths. Which one is right depends far more on how long the system needs to keep running than on the version you are on today.
| Option | Best when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Move to a supported version | The system will outlive the current version's support window and you can schedule the work | Budget for compatibility testing, not just the upgrade itself — that is where the real cost sits |
| Replace the component | The project is unmaintained, or a better-supported alternative exists | The replacement has its own lifecycle and its own end-of-life date — you are changing vendors, not escaping the problem |
| Buy extended support | Migration is genuinely underway but cannot finish before the deadline, or the workload is frozen by certification or a third-party application | A bridge, not a destination — every year purchased is a year the migration still has to happen |
| Document accepted risk | The system is isolated, short-lived, or scheduled for retirement | Only defensible with real compensating controls and a written decision — auditors treat undocumented end-of-life software as a finding |
How to choose, in one question: how many more years does this system need to run? Under a year, extended support (where it exists) is usually cheaper than an emergency migration. One to three years, migrate — support purchased repeatedly costs more than doing the project once, and the project only gets harder as the version ages. Indefinitely, migrate now and plan the next migration before it surprises you.
Worth saying plainly, because vendors selling extended support rarely will: extended support is often the more expensive choice over a multi-year horizon. It is the right answer when a deadline is genuinely unreachable, not as a default. Compare the annual fee against the one-time cost of migrating before committing to either.
Formalizing decisions like this across your estate? Our free EOL policy template is a ready-to-adopt policy with risk tiers, remediation SLAs, and audit mapping — no signup, free to use and share.
Extended Support Options
If you cannot migrate immediately, extended support vendors provide continued security patches for EOL VMware Aria Automation versions. This is a bridge, not a permanent solution — plan your migration in parallel.
VMware Aria Automation has 13 versions past end of life — security patches have stopped, but CVE disclosures haven't. Extended support past the official date exists for many products in this position — whether it exists for VMware Aria Automation is exactly what we check. Tell us where to reach you and we'll reply with matched options and pricing guidance — or an honest "no vendor covers this."