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Monitoring Room
OS end of life migrations

Migrating from an OS reaching End of Life (EOL) is a critical, time-sensitive task to avoid security vulnerabilities, loss of vendor support, and compliance issues.
 

Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you plan and execute a successful OS end-of-life migration, whether on-prem or to the cloud.

Why OS EOL Migrations Matter

When an OS reaches End of Life:

  • No more security updates

  • No vendor support or patches

  • Increasing compliance risk (GDPR, HIPAA, etc.)

  • Hardware/software incompatibilities increase over time

Prepare for Migration

  • Backup everything: full image + database dumps

  • Review application dependencies (e.g., Java, Python, PHP versions)

  • Identify deprecated features or drivers

  • Update configuration management (e.g., Ansible, Puppet)

  • If applicable, create a Terraform or CloudFormation template

Security & Compliance

  • Harden the new OS (firewall, SSH keys, disable root login)

  • Enable automatic security updates or patch management

  • Monitor logs via SIEM or centralized logging (e.g., ELK, CloudWatch)

  • Update documentation and asset inventory

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