Amazon EMR standard support

Runtime environment – The runtime environment includes the operating system that’s included as part of the Amazon Machine Image (AMI) or other container image when you launch your cluster or container (for example, Amazon Linux 2023). It also includes the language runtimes such as the Amazon Corretto JDK, along with other related tools that the image installs.

Core engines – These include the core open-source software such as Apache Hive, and open table formats such as Apache Iceberg.

Extras – These include convenience libraries and Python packages such as mariadb-connector-java and open-source software such as Apache Pig.

Runtime Environment components: Runtime Environment components will receive fixes on technical support tickets. Fixes are categorized as (a) critical bugs, (b) critical data corruption issues, and (c) critical security issues. When eligible, Amazon EMR will backport fixes for Runtime Environment to older versions. For operational compatibility with the open-source Core Engine components, certain Runtime Environment components must remain at specific versions to prevent breaking customer applications. For these components, Amazon EMR is dependent on upstream open-source for availability of fixes. When fixes are available in open source, we will provide the latest stable version within 90 days of them being verified by Amazon EMR.

Core Engines components: Core Engines provides the latest versions for many open-source projects, each having hundreds of transitive dependency libraries. While the open-source communities managing these projects attempt to address issues and known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) on a frequent basis, the latest versions might still contain known bugs and CVEs. Amazon EMR is dependent on upstream open-source for availability of fixes and will provide the latest stable version as part of the Core Engine components within 90 days of them being verified by Amazon EMR. In certain cases, Amazon EMR might provide a fix for a CVE in one of the Core Engine components that needs to be addressed ahead of upstream open source. Amazon EMR also provides you with technical support and fixes on features that are added on top of open source under recommended configurations. We don’t backport fixes for Core Engine components to older Patch or Minor versions.

Extras components: Amazon EMR does not support Extras components. Extra components are open-source projects provided as convenience and Amazon EMR does not provide fixes for issues encountered with them. Any support requests or fixes can be addressed through the open-source community supporting these components.

Standard Support: Amazon EMR releases are eligible for Standard Support 24 months from the date of release. You can create technical support tickets and expect updates for issues that you encounter with these releases.

End of Support: After Standard Support ends, Amazon EMR releases enter End of Support (EoS) stage for 12 months. EoS releases are not eligible for technical support and you won't be able to create any tickets for clusters, containers, or jobs running on these releases. EoS releases won't receive any fixes, patches or updates. EoS releases will be removed from the console, but will continue to be available through the API and Amazon CLI. You can always continue to run workloads on EoS releases. We strongly recommend that you migrate to the latest Amazon EMR release so that you continue to receive security patches, remain eligible for technical support, and can create support tickets when needed.

End of Life: After the End of Support (EoS) term, releases are considered End of Life (EoL). Although you can continue to run EoL clusters, Amazon EMR reserves the right to remove EoL releases from the API and SDK on a case-by-case basis due to security and operational concerns. We strongly recommend that you migrate to the latest Amazon EMR, release because EoL versions can be removed from the API and SDK in exceptional cases.

Standard Support only supports components required for Amazon EMR clusters. Amazon EMR can’t guarantee security patching and fix availability in the case when Core Engine open-source components reach EoL upstream, or when security updates are no longer available for dependencies. While you can opt-in to install Extras, Amazon EMR won't support them or their dependencies. For example, you can install third-party applications in your custom AMI to harden the security of your cluster, install additional components or copy objects using bootstrap action scripts, or SSH into your cluster and upgrade the default package versions. Amazon EMR does not support these components. Standard Support doesn’t cover customer provided bootstrap actions, packages, libraries, your custom code and bring-your-own custom applications that you can configure Amazon EMR to install for your convenience.

Your existing clusters won't be impacted, regardless of which Amazon EMR release they're running. You can continue to run existing clusters without disruption. You can also continue to launch new clusters and run jobs on any of the existing releases and new releases. All existing releases and new releases at time of the policy becoming effective are covered by Standard Support for 24 months from initial date of release of the Amazon EMR release version. Amazon EMR will provide you with bridge support during the initial announcement of the policy. To receive uninterrupted support, we advise testing your applications and promptly upgrading to the most recent Amazon EMR release.

Amazon EMR won't change Standard Support components on existing releases or clusters. However, Amazon EMR reserves the right to honor the upstream End of Life on a case-by-case basis, and remove such components in the new releases, or move the existing release to End of Support (EoS), or End of Life (EoL) status in exceptional cases. We'll notify you of any removal through available channels.

When a new Region is launched, Amazon EMR will only support Amazon EMR release versions under Standard Support, released in six months prior to the date of of when new Region becomes generally available.

Amazon EMR won't automatically update your existing clusters to latest versions. However, you can choose to update new clusters to the latest patch versions if desired.

The cost of your unsupported Amazon EMR usage will count toward your Amazon bill. Even if you are using Amazon EMR in an unsupported way, the costs associated with that usage are still part of your overall Amazon consumption and will be included in the calculation of your support fees.