Microsoft Announces End of .NET Core 2.1 Support From August 21-2021


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At one end Microsoft has announced the end of official support for .NET Core 2.1 and has also announced that security updates will be issued for .NET Core 3.1 and .NET 5 only and not for .NET Core 2.1.

If your computer will have .NET Core 2.1 installed after the end of support date, you will have your computer at risk and it is highly unsecure as you won’t be getting any help from the Microsoft team.

If you have any digital product or application built in .NET Core 2.1, the application will keep working but the Microsoft community will no longer be providing any support if you run into any issue and need technical support.

The company has announced in clear words that there will be no more updates, security fixes or support for .NET Core which is a signal for all .NET Core 2.1 users to update their computer and .NET Core application to .NET Core 3.1 or .NET 5.0 as soon as possible before august 21, 2021.

Upgrading to .NET Core 3.1

  • Open the project file (the *.csproj, *.vbproj, or *.fsproj file).
  • Change the target framework value from netcoreapp2.1 to netcoreapp3.1. The target framework is defined by the or element.
  • For example, change netcoreapp3.0 to netcoreapp3.1.

Need help in upgrading?

Microsoft has its cadence and is been doing it from its inception to keep itself updated and provide new features, functionalities and more security to its users. Microsoft’s vision for the future of .NET Core is very clear and it will keep bringing regular updates on a regular interval to meet the demand of future.

Microsoft cadence for .NET Core Versions release date and end of support date

  • Upgrade from ASP.NET Core 2.1 to .NET Core 3.1
  • Install .NET Core 3.1 to your computer (Strongly recommended by Microsoft)
  • Migrate .NET Core 2.1 to .NET 5.0

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Update your development environment

This is for the Businesses who are working as an ASP.NET development company & providing software development services to their clients. You may be building dozens of software’s for your customers, but having the computer with the unsupported version may lead to the big threat to your entire development environment as if while developing the project, your system stops responding and you suffer with the unwanted problems for which no one will be able to help.

This could lead you to lose your client, time, energy and also the fame that you earned spending every single second of your life and employees.

Microsoft stops the support but do not force the products built in earlier version to stop working or unresponsive. However, Microsoft also strongly recommends to its every user to keep their applications and system to upgrade as an when the new version is launched and old version support is stopped.

This will help the user lead the industry in all aspects as if there is any problem faced after upgrading, Microsoft offers the complete support with security fixes and updates on regular basis to prevent any bugs or software issues.

What do we recommend?

Following the cadence, Microsoft has its future roadmap ready for .NET. Below is the image you can look to understand and decide which version to upgrade your computer or the application if built in .NET core 2.1 or earlier version.

When the future roadmap for .NET is clear and Microsoft is going to end the support for the .NET Core 3.1 in December 3, 2022 which is next year then there is no sense to upgrade to .NET Core 3.1 and if you go with it, you again will have to spend to upgrade it to the higher version that is .NET 5.

Microsoft follows the cycle of 3 years to end support for “LTS” version from the date of launching. .NET Core 3.1 was launched on September 8, 2020 and .NET 5 after it. We recommend going with .NET 5.0 as it will have official support longer then the .NET Core 3.1.

If you built your .NET Core application, following the standard migrating or upgrading process will help you keep your system or the application to its core value without disturbing its business front end process.

Standard upgrading steps to follow

Take the backup of the app and data
Clone the app
Install .NET Core 3.1 SDK and Global command tools
Change target framework version on all projects
Remove packages no longer needed
Change packages version
Change some Classes
Run and Fix
Deploy to Windows server
Do remember data is the new oil and not just oil it is the oxygen these days, so when you are performing the migration activity, take the backup of the data so that if you miss anything or migration process stuck in between due to any unwanted reason, you can start the process again without worrying about the business process.

You own a business and want to get your application upgraded following the standard process of migrating or upgrading without loosing the data and your business core objective without disturbing the front end business activity. You should hire .NET Developers who hold the hands of experience in migrating or upgrading the .NET Core projects and able to solve any complex situation if arrives.

Closing:

As said by the Microsoft, the system or the application built in earlier version no matter if its built in 1.x, 2.0, 2.2, or 3.0, it will keep working but Microsoft will not be able to provide any Microsoft .NET Core support to these version users if they reach’em beyond the end support date.

Microsoft strongly recommend to all its users who are using .NET Core 2.1 or earlier version to upgrade their computers or application to the supported versions to keep enjoying the benefit from the official Microsoft team. You will be getting security updates, security fixes, non-security fixes , and technical support and maintenance.