Symplectic Elements End of Support Announcements
This page contains end of support announcements for various versions of Symplectic Elements, Elements API, server operating systems and functionality.
What does end of support mean?
End of support means different things for different technologies.
For versions of Elements that are beyond their End of Support date, the Symplectic Elements Service Level Agreement no longer applies. Symplectic will not provide any support other than support to upgrade to a supported version.
For versions of Elements that have been superseded, Symplectic reserves the right to not resolve failings in the software.
For legacy API backwards compatible endpoints, it means that the endpoints will not be available in versions of Elements released after the end of the support date;
For operating systems and versions of Microsoft SQL Server, it means that new versions of Elements released after the end of the support date will not run on those operating systems or versions of Microsoft SQL Server.
For data sources, it means that versions of Elements equal to or older than the indicated version will as of the listed date no longer be able to search for publications on the indicated data sources. Newer versions of Elements will continue to be able to search the data source as per usual.
For cryptographic protocols and cypher suites, Symplectic-hosted services will not guarantee to support the deprecated protocols/cypher suites beyond the specified end-of-support dates. This includes the Elements API and Symplectic's secure FTP servers (e.g. used for data feeds).
Why is Symplectic ending support for these platforms?
As Elements evolves, the use of older technologies has an increasing impact on our speed of delivery, quality of support, ability to deliver new features, and on information security. So that we can continue to deliver a great product and excellent support, it is necessary to migrate to newer technologies from time to time.
End of support for versions of Elements
The End of Support dates will be determined on a case-by-case basis, and it is currently anticipated that the End of Support date for an Elements version will typically be no later than 2 years after its release.
For further information, please see the announcement: Introducing End of Support dates for versions of Elements.
Elements version | Release date | End of support date |
|---|---|---|
7.2 | 1 December 2025 | 1 December 2027 |
7.1 | 18 September 2025 | 18 September 2027 |
7.0 | 26 June 2025 | 26 June 2027 |
6.23 | 24 April 2025 | 24 April 2027 |
6.22 | 27 February 2025 | 27 February 2027 |
6.21 | 28 November 2024 | 28 November 2026 |
6.20 | 19 September 2024 | 19 September 2026 |
6.19 | 27 June 2024 | 27 June 2026 |
6.18 | 25 April 2024 | 25 April 2026 |
6.17 | 29 February 2024 | 28 February 2026 |
6.16 | 7 December 2023 | 7 December 2025 |
6.15 | 12 October 2023 | 12 October 2025 |
6.14 | 6 July 2023 | 6 July 2025 |
6.13 | 27 April 2023 | 31 October 2024* |
6.12 | 23 February 2023 | 31 October 2024* |
6.11 | 8 December 2022 | 31 October 2024* |
6.10 | 6 October 2022 | 6 October 2024 |
6.9 | 21 July 2022 | 21 July 2024 |
6.8 | 19 May 2022 | 19 May 2024 |
6.7 | 21 March 2022 | 31 December 2023 |
6.6 | 2 December 2021 | 30 November 2023 |
6.5 | 30 September 2021 | 31 October 2023 |
6.4 | 22 July 2021 | 30 September 2023 |
6.3 | 27 May 2021 | 31 August 2023 |
6.2 | 25 March 2021 | 31 July 2023 |
6.1 and earlier | 10 December 2020 and earlier | 30 June 2023 |
* Please note the End of Support date for v6.11 through v6.13 was aligned with the end of support date for .NET 6, a core Elements dependency, which was on 12 November 2024.
The first version of Elements to support .NET 8 instead of .NET 6 is version 6.14.
Please note: it is possible to install .NET 8 alongside .NET 6, so that could be done in advance of whichever update switched you over.
End of support for Elements API
Symplectic is ending support for the API endpoints listed below:
Elements API version | Will be removed in |
|---|---|
Elements API 4.9 | Elements v5.16 |
Elements API 5.5 | Elements v7.2 (Dec 2025) |
End of support for Windows Server
Symplectic is ending support for Windows Servers listed below:
Windows Server edition | Released | Will no longer be supported as of |
|---|---|---|
Windows Server 2008 | February 2008 | Elements v5.15 |
Windows Server 2008 R2 | July 2009 | Elements v5.15 |
Windows Server 2012 | August 2012 | Elements v6.0 |
Windows Server 2012 R2 | October 2013 | Elements v6.7 |
Windows Server 2016 | September 2016 | TBC |
Windows Server 2019 | October 2018 | TBC |
Windows Server 2022 | August 2021 | TBC |
End of support for SQL Server
Symplectic is ending support for SQL Servers listed below:
SQL Server version | Equivalent SQL Server version number | Released | Supported from | Will no longer be supported as of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SQL Server 2008 R2 | 10.50.* | April 2010 | Very early versions of Elements | Elements v5.1.1 |
SQL Server 2012 | 11.0.* | March 2012 | Very early versions of Elements | Elements v5.15 |
SQL Server 2014 | 12.0.* | April 2014 | Very early versions of Elements | Elements v6.2 |
SQL Server 2016 (before Service Pack 1) | 13.0.* - 13.0.2218.0 | June 2016 | Elements v5.2 | Elements v6.7 |
SQL Server 2016 (Service Pack 1 or 2) | 13.0.4001+.* - 13.0.5888.11 | November 2016 | Elements v5.2 | Elements v6.10 (previously "first release Q1 2023") |
SQL Server 2016 (Service Pack 3 and later) | 13.0.6300+.* | September 2021 | Elements v5.2 | Elements v6.12 |
SQL Server 2017 (before CU24) | 14.0.* - 14.0.3381.3 | October 2017 | Elements v5.14.1 | Elements v6.10 |
SQL Server 2017 (CU24 and later) | 14.0.3391+.* | May 2021 | Elements v5.14.1 | TBC |
SQL Server 2019 (before CU11) | 15.0.* - 15.0.4123.1 | November 2019 | Elements v6.0 | Elements v6.10 |
SQL Server 2019 (CU11 and later) | 15.0.4138+.* | June 2021 | Elements v6.0 | TBC |
SQL Server 2022 | 16.0.* | November 2022 | Elements v6.12 | TBC |
End of support for Repository Tools protocols
Symplectic is ending support for modules listed below:
Integration type | Will no longer be supported as of | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Repository Tools 1 DSpace Connector | Elements v6.11 | Clients should plan to migrate to the newer RT2 DSpace integration as soon as possible, and before upgrading to v6.11 (or above) |
Repository Tools 1 EPrints Connector | Elements v6.11 | Clients should plan to migrate to the newer RT2 EPrints integration as soon as possible, and before upgrading to v6.11 (or above) |
Repository Tools 1 | Elements v6.11 | We have been working with clients using the RT1 Fedora 3 integration to migrate to alternative repository integrations as this is a legacy platform. |
End of support for certain versions of Repository Platforms using Repository Tools 2 (RT2)
Symplectic is ending support for the repository platform versions using RT2 listed below:
Repository platform | Will no longer be supported as of | Notes |
|---|---|---|
DSpace 5.4 | Elements 5.14.1 (28 Feb 2019) | |
DSpace 6.0 | Elements 5.14.1 (28 Feb 2019) |
End of support for Elements features
Symplectic is ending support for features listed below:
Feature | Will no longer be supported as of | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Symplectic Hosted CrossRef data source | Elements v5.20 | Elements has been using the CrossRef API since v5.13. The Symplectic Hosted CrossRef data source itself (used by versions of Elements prior to v5.13) will be decommissioned at the end of Q1 2021. |
Comparative Statistics Page | Elements v6.0 | Retired as is not compatible with DORA principles. |
Dimensions for Universities data source | Elements v6.2 | The older 'Dimensions for Universities' data source was supplanted by the newer Dimensions data source in Elements v5.14. The older DfU data source is going to be retired by the Dimensions team. Clients wishing to continue to access Dimensions data should subscribe to the new Dimensions API and enable the new Dimensions data source. |
API "query" parameter for certain resources | Elements v6.4 | See Announcement: removal of "query" parameter on certain API resources for details |
'Enable sorting for external systems functionality' setting & associated API functionality | TBC | See Announcement: End of support for the 'Enable sorting for external systems functionality' setting & associated API functionality for details |
Stanford Webauth/Kerberos 5 authentication protocol | Elements v6.10 | See Announcement: End of support for the 'Stanford Webauth/Kerberos5' authentication protocol |
Dimensions data source (v2) | Elements v6.7 | With the release of v6.7, Elements is integrating with v3 of the Dimensions data source. The v2 API endpoint (used in Elements v5.19 - v6.6) will be retired by the Dimensions team in Q2 2023. Clients wishing to continue to access the Dimensions data source will need to upgrade to Elements v6.7 or higher by the end of March 2023. |
Web of Science (Lite and Expanded) data source (old) | Elements v6.7 | With the release of v6.7, Elements is integrating with a newer version of the Web of Science data source. The previous API endpoint will be retired by the Web of Science team in Q4 2023. Clients wishing to continue to access the Web of Science data source will need to upgrade to Elements v6.7 or higher by the end of March 2023. |
End of support for Browsers
Symplectic is ending support for the browsers listed below:
Browser Name | Will no longer be supported as of | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) | Elements v6.0 | IE11 is no longer a modern browser and has been replaced by Microsoft Edge as the default browser from Windows 10 onwards. It is no longer compliant with contemporary web standards. |
End of support for Cryptographic Protocols and Cypher Suites
Please ensure all client systems connected to Elements use a modern and secure set of cypher suites to ensure ongoing compatibility with Elements.
Feature | Support will be phased out from | Notes |
|---|---|---|
All Cypher Suites whose IANA name pattern matches TLS_*_CBC_*. For example | 12 December 2023 | Symplectic is ending support for CBC-based cypher suites for security reasons. |