Drupal 7 EoL Extension: Points to Note

A recent blog post by Cyber Duck delves into the aftermath of extending Drupal 7's End of Life (EoL). The quantum of support Drupal 7 receives is diminished, although the EoL has been postponed. The sunset on Drupal 7 developer support was to reach on November 2023. But now, the EOL date has been extended to January 2025, granting a 14-month reprieve. However, this extension is emphasized as the final one.

According to Duncan Worrell, author of the blog post, while this may bring some relief to those using Drupal 7, there are important caveats to consider regarding the extended support. Starting from August 1, 2023, there will be notable changes in ongoing support.

The Drupal Security Team may announce vulnerabilities in Drupal 7 before they are fixed, potentially exposing websites to attacks. Additionally, support for some contributed modules will gradually be withdrawn, and unsupported modules may pose security and functionality risks. Moreover, older versions of PHP, specifically before PHP5.6, will no longer be supported by Drupal, potentially causing PHP errors and website malfunctions.

Furthermore, support for Windows hosting solutions will be removed, although Drupal 7 sites will still function on Windows-based browsers. In summary, the reduced support for Drupal 7 signifies the need for users to migrate to Drupal 9 or 10, as no direct upgrade path is available. Click here to read the blog post.