End-of-Support for Older Qualys Virtual and Containerized Scanner Appliance Versions

Effective October 29, 2027

Please note: the End-of-Support date is October 29, 2027 — not this coming October (2026). You have more than a year to plan and complete your migration.

Qualys is announcing the End-of-Support (EOS) of older Virtual Scanner Appliance (qVSA) and Containerized Scanner Appliance (qCSA) versions. This notification explains what is changing, which versions are impacted, how to identify affected appliances in your subscription, and the tools we’ve built to make replacement as easy as possible.

What Is Changing?

On October 29, 2027, the scanner appliance versions listed below will reach End-of-Support.

This is not a breaking change. Impacted appliances will continue to function after the EOS date. However, no technical support will be provided for these devices. Specifically:

• General Support Only: You will retain access to documentation, knowledge base (KB) articles, and upgrade guidance.
• No Standard Support: Engineering and bug fix support will no longer be provided.

Impacted Versions

Appliance Type	Versions Reaching End-of-Support
qVSA / Virtual Scanner Appliance	Versions below 4.1
qCSA / Containerized Scanner Appliance	Versions below 1.2.14

Note: Physical scanner appliances below these versions are out of scope for this End-of-Support announcement.

Don’t Scanner Appliances Auto-Upgrade?

This is a common question, and the answer is: mostly, but not entirely. The majority of scanner components auto-upgrade — including the Scanner Engine version and Vulnerability Signature version — but the Scanner Platform version does not. Auto-upgrade of the Scanner Platform version will only be supported on the latest 4.x versions, planned for release by the end of 2026. That’s why appliances running older platform versions must be replaced rather than waiting for an automatic update.

This is a one-time activity. Once you deploy the latest 4.x version, the Scanner Platform version will begin auto-upgrading by end of 2026 — along with the Scanner Engine and Vulnerability Signature versions. You will never need to manually replace an appliance for this reason again.

How to Identify Impacted Appliances

Starting with Enterprise TruRisk™ Platform Release 10.40.0, appliances that are End-of-Support (or nearing it) are flagged with an orange triangle next to the scanner version name.

You can see this indicator in two places:

1. Qualys UI — on the Scans > Appliances list, the orange triangle appears next to the Scanner Platform version, with a tooltip: “This scanner version is End-of-Support. Please click on Upgrade EOS Scanner to learn more.” Clicking into an appliance shows the same indicator next to the Software Image Version under Scanner Appliance Information > Versions, with a link to upgrade guidance.

2. Appliance List API — EOS status is also exposed in the API. The SOFTWARE_VERSION element returned by the Appliance List API (/api/3.0/fo/appliance/?action=list&output_mode=full) now carries an eos attribute, so you can identify impacted appliances programmatically:

<SOFTWARE_VERSION eos="yes">qVSA-Azure.x86_64-3.10.72-2</SOFTWARE_VERSION>

<SOFTWARE_VERSION eos="no">qVSA.open.x86_64-4.1.82-1</SOFTWARE_VERSION>

The orange triangle indicator on the Scanner Appliance Information > Versions tab, with a link to upgrade guidance.

What Do You Need to Do?

The recommended action is simple: identify your impacted appliances and re-deploy them on a supported version.

To help, we’ve created the Scanner Replacement Automation tool, which streamlines the entire replacement workflow in four steps:

1. Assess — Connects to your Qualys subscription, scans your appliance inventory, and flags legacy/EOS scanners.
2. Plan — Provides a prioritized dashboard with recommended actions.
3. Deploy — Auto-provisions a new scanner VM. This version supports AWS and VMware vSphere via Terraform, with more platform support coming in the next version.
4. Replace — Creates the new scanner record, transfers configuration via the Qualys Replace Scanner API, and decommissions the old appliance if preferred.

The Scanner Replacement Platform flags EOS scanners and recommends replacements across your inventory.

Use of the Scanner Replacement Automation tool is entirely optional — it is provided as a convenience to accelerate large-scale replacements and is offered as-is.

You can also replace scanners without the tool, using the built-in Replace Scanner option — available directly from the Qualys UI or via the Replace Scanner Appliance API.

Key Dates at a Glance

Milestone	Date
End-of-Support notification	Today
Platform auto-upgrade available on latest 4.x versions	Planned for end of 2026
End-of-Support effective date	October 29, 2027 (not October 2026)

Summary

• End-of-Support takes effect October 29, 2027 — over a year from now, not this October.
• Impacted: qVSA below 4.1 and qCSA below 1.2.14. Physical scanners below these versions are out of scope.
• Appliances keep working — this is not a breaking change — but engineering and bug fix support ends.
• Look for the orange triangle indicator (Enterprise TruRisk™ Platform 10.40.0+) to find impacted appliances.
• Use the Scanner Replacement Automation tool to assess, plan, deploy, and replace impacted scanners.
• This is a one-time activity — once on the latest 4.x version, appliances will auto-upgrade the Scanner Platform version going forward.

We encourage you to begin planning your scanner replacements now to ensure a smooth transition well ahead of the October 29, 2027 deadline. For questions, please reach out to your Technical Account Manager or Qualys Support.