Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 with security updates in January 2020 which means that devices still running Windows 7 or Server 2008 are no longer allowed to be connected to the ETH network for security reasons.
For customers who need to run legacy Microsoft products past the end of support Microsoft offers the Extended Security Update (ESU) program as a last resort option. ESU is meant to give you more time to replace or migrate those systems and not to keep running them indefinitely. ESU has to be purchased and manually activated. It is only available for up to three years from the date support ended (until January 10th, 2023 for Windows 7 and Server 2008). See Microsoft’s Lifecycle FAQ for details.
To make it as easy as possible for you to run Windows 7 and Server 2008 systems securely until you are able to replace or migrate them to a current operating system, IT Shop offers two products that allow you to purchase ESU for your systems.
There are three scenarios to consider:
- You are running one or more Windows 7 systems and need more time to replace or migrate them: Order one license per installation of the IT Shop product MS Windows 7 Extended Security Update (ESU). Manually activate with the key provided and patch the system.
- You are running one or more Windows Server 2008 systems hosted on IT Services’ ESX platform. Order one license per installation of the IT Shop product MS Windows Server 2008 Extended Security Update (ESU). Manually activate with the key provided and patch the system.
- You are running one or more Windows Server 2008 systems on physical hardware or VMs not hosted on IT Services’ ESX platform. Please contact itshop@ethz.ch to discuss how to proceed.