End of Support for Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (4299011)

Microsoft announced that the end of support date for Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 is January 14th, 2020.  In order to continue to receive any security updates for Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, it would be necessary to enroll in the Extended Security Update (ESU) Program.  As such, any updates for Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2 as of January 14, 2020 from the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) will also require the same ESU verification from Microsoft.

Any device that is not recognized directly from Microsoft as being part of this ESU Program will not have accurate detect or deploy results with security updates delivered by the KACE SMA after this date.

Update (Feb 2020):

NOTE: Starting with February 2020 patches, new prerequisites are necessary for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 2008r2 SP1 enrolled in the ESU program. Without these prerequisites, newer cumulative updates may detect as not applicable. See this KB to review additional reasons a patch may detect as not needed.

Prerequisites listed in patches released Feb 11, 2020:

1. March 12, 2019 servicing stack update (SSU) (KB4490628).
2. The latest SHA-2 update (KB4474419) released September 10, 2019.
3. The January 14, 2020 SSU (KB4536952) or later. 
4. The Extended Security Updates (ESU) Licensing Preparation Package (KB4538483) released February 11, 2020.

NOTE: As per the last requirement above (KB4538483):

"If you have previously successfully installed and activated your ESU key on your Windows 7 SP1 device, you do not need to re-install or reactivate it after taking this update.

If you have previously successfully installed and activated your ESU key on your Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 device, you may need to reactivate it."

To avoid disruption in patching of Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2 systems:

1. Upgrade all Microsoft operating systems to a supported version
2. Enroll in the Extended Security Updates (ESU) Program with Microsoft

NOTE: KACE will continue to provide updates for those devices which are recognized by Microsoft as being enrolled in the ESU program.

If you do not have an ESU MAK add-on key installed and activated, after installing a patch which requires an ESU subscription and restarting your device, you will receive the error, “Failure configuring Windows updates. Reverting Changes. Do not turn off your computer”.

If you have purchased an ESU MAK and have encountered this issue, please verify you have applied all prerequisites and that your key is activated.

Information on how to obtain, install, and activate ESU:

• How to get Extended Security Updates for eligible Windows devices

Update (March 2023):

Windows 7

As of January 10, 2023, Microsoft no longer provides Extended Security Updates (ESU) or technical support for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Windows Embedded Standard 7 ESU will end October 10, 2023, and we will continue to provide patches till then.

Windows Server 2008 R2

As of January 10, 2023, Microsoft no longer provides Extended Security Updates (ESU) or technical support for Windows Server 2008 R2.
Extended Security Update Year 4 will be available only for VMs on Azure, support for which will end Jan 9, 2024. Applicable VMs hosted in Azure are automatically enabled for Extended Security Updates (internally using the Azure Instance Metadata Service). We are unable to support patches in the catalog for this additional year starting Feb 2023 as in our internal testing the KACE agent is unable to differentiate between a standalone ESU enabled VM and an Azure hosted VM. Customers will have to get updates on Azure hosted VMs directly through Windows Update.