Globus Connect Server old-version End Of Support
During the 2026 Globus World conferences, Globus discussed implementing an End-Of-Life/End-Of-Support policy for Globus Connect Server. With today’s announcement, that policy is now in effect. If you run Globus Connect Server at Stanford, this policy affects you, and is important.
Globus Connect Server (GCS) 5.4.99 was released today. Starting on April 22, 2027, GCS versions older than 5.4.99 will become unsupported, and will stop working. After April 22, 2027, once a new version of GCS is released, older versions will lose support after six months.
Here is what this change means to you:
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Starting April 22, when there is a new GCS release, you will have six months to upgrade to it.
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When an OS reaches End-Of-Life, you will have six months to upgrade your DTNs to a newer OS.
What does “Stop Working” mean?
Essentially, anything an end-user can do will be blocked. That includes transferring files, deleting files, looking at file listings, deleting files, etc.. So, from the end user’s perspective, starting April 22, Endpoints running GCS 5.4.98 or older will appear to be broken.
Administrators will still be able to view activity logs, list Endpoint and Collection details, list Guest Collection permissions, etc..
I run a newer OS, what do I do?
Today, GCS supports…
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Debian 11 through 13
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Enterprise Linux (and derivatives) 8 through 10
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Fedora 43 & 44
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OpenSUSE Leap 15.6 & 16.0
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SuSE 15.6, 15.7, and 16.0
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Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS, 25.10, and 26.04 LTS
If you run one of the OS versions above, you can upgrade to the latest GCS version today! Upgrading uses the OS package manager, so if you’ve been upgrading pacakges normally, you might have been upgrading GCS without realizing it.
Review the upgrade instructions for single-DTN Endpoints and for multi-DTN Endpoints.
I run an older OS, what do I do?
If you run Enterprise Linux 7, SUSE 15.5, or Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, GCS 5.4.88 is the last version of GCS that you can run. GCS 5.4.88 will lose support—and stop working—on April 22, 2027.
Your path forward depends on if GCS is running on a DTN (a “Data Transfer Node”, a machine dedicated to data-transfer).
If GCS is running on a dedicated DTN, you should plan on performing an OS upgrade before April 1. Depending on your OS, this might involve reinstalling the OS from scratch.
If GCS is running on a shared machine, the path forward is more difficult. You will need to take inventory of what else is running on the machine, and how it will respond to an OS upgrade.
Review the procedure for performing a major distro upgrade.
What about Ubuntu?
The situation for non-LTS Ubuntu versions is more complicated.
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is the oldest Ubuntu version still supported by Globus. There are five non-LTS Ubuntu versions which are newer than Ubuntu 22.04 LTS: They are 22.10, 23.04, 23.10, 24.10, and 25.04. Those Ubuntu versions no longer get updates from Ubuntu.
You should still try to upgrade to a supported Ubuntu release. Your path forward is as follows:
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Ubuntu 22.10, 23.04, and 23.10: Investigate upgrading to 24.04 LTS
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Ubuntu 24.10 and 25.04: Investigate upgrading to 26.04 LTS
If you are unable to upgrade Ubuntu, you might still be able to upgrade to the latest version of GCS, but it will be at your own risk, and we are unable to provide support.
Why end support?
Every Globus Connect Server installation includes its own API server and database. When Globus wants to change their services, those changes must be tested against every release of GCS, on every supported platform.
Globus also continues providing bug fixes and diagnostic services for older versions of GCS. That includes diagnosing problems that might already have been fixed in newer versions of GCS.
As newer versions of GCS are released, the support burden increases. This is unsustainable, hence the new End-Of-Support policy.
If you have further questions, you can reach out to Globus Support at support@globus.org.