For SharePoint Server 2016 the a different product servicing policy has been released which is different from older SharePoint versions.
In the past the requirement was on a specific service pack level. For SharePoint 2016 a different servicing policy is required as Microsoft has no plan to release service packs for SharePoint Server 2016.
During mainstream support, Microsoft will release new cumulative / public update builds for SharePoint Server 2016 each month that contain the latest functionality, performance, and stability improvements for the product.
To ensure that customers have a high-quality experience, Microsoft is adopting the following product servicing policy for SharePoint Server 2016:
All SharePoint Server 2016 builds will be supported for at least one year from its release date. Microsoft will update the minimum supported build of SharePoint Server 2016 on each anniversary of General Availability (GA). Customers must be running that build or higher to remain supported. If a customer contacts Microsoft support and their farm is not running the minimum supported build or higher, they will be asked to upgrade to that build before support can be offered.
The product servicing policy timeline for SharePoint Server 2016 is described in the table below:
| SharePoint Server 2016 | Support End Date |
|---|---|
| RTM (16.0.4351.1000) – April 2017 CU | 4/30/2018 |
| May 2017 CU – April 2018 CU | 4/30/2019 |
| May 2018 CU – April 2019 CU | 4/30/2020 |
| May 2019 CU – April 2020 CU | 4/30/2021 |
| May 2020 CU – April 2021 CU | 4/30/2022 |
| May 2021 CU – all future CUs | 7/14/2026 |
For all the details about the new servicing policy please have a look at the following article:
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How does this change relate to mainstream & extended support? According to https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/lifecycle/search?alpha=Microsoft%20SharePoint%20Server%202016 the mainstream support ends in July 2021, extended support in 2026.
This is kind of reflected in the last public update being released in May 2021, but the link could be made clearer. Mainstream support ends in July 2021, meaning that there will be only security updates from that point onwards. I think this distinction is important to make because end of mainstream and end of extended support are two things for me.
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Hi Dennis,
there is no destinction necessary.
After end of mainstream support there will be no regular cumulative updates anymore.
So of course we cannot expect people to install a cumulative update that we never released after end of mainstream support.
Cheers,
Stefan
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Hi Stefan, can I confirm that the May 2017 Public Update is actually the following set of patches or are these a Cumulative Update rather than a Public Update? https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/stefan_gossner/2017/05/09/may-2017-cu-for-sharepoint-server-2016-is-available-for-download/.
Many thanks.
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Hi James,
what do you mean with public updates? Do you mean the security fixes or all fixes released in May?
The article points to all fixes released in May which includes all packages also those without security fixes.
Cheers,
Stefan
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I guess I am trying to confirm that the latest/current updates (KB 3191880 and 3191884) are actually the Public Updates referenced in the table in this post, as your May 2017 updates blog post refers to them as CU’s.
Thanks for the quick response!
James.
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Hi James,
there is not a single SharePoint fix which is NOT a CU.
So you can always refer to SharePoint fixes as a CU.
The problem is that the PG changed what they understand on public update. In earlier times these were only fixes which included security fixes and which were populated through Microsoft Update. These days all SharePoint fixes are PUs for the PG.
I still differentiate between these two and only refer to PUs for those fixes available through Microsoft Update and name everything else a CU.
With other words: the article here means those fixes I list on my blog as CU.
Cheers,
Stefan
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Thanks Stefan for clarifying the naming convention for these patches.
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Hi Stefan.
Is this the same as for SharePoint 2013? If you install the March 2018 Public Update the mainstream support will end 4/10/2019?
Thank you.
Simon
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Hi Simon,
nothing has changed for SP2013. This new policy is only for SharePoint 2016.
Cheers,
Stefan