Microsoft set to End Support for .NET Core 2.1 platform

Microsoft released .NET Core 2.1 in May 2018, as a long-term support (LTS) release, which means it was supported for three years or an additional year after the next LTS release.

Now, the company has announced that it will end support for the .NET Core 2.1 development platform on August 21, 2021, which means that those running the platform after that date will be at risk of security issues. And starting from September 2021, security updates will not be issued .NET Core 2.1 and every computer that has .NET Core 2.1 installed, will be potentially unsecure.

Therefore, Microsoft advises that users should migrate to successors such as .NET Core 3.1 or .NET 5, or risk facing potential security issues.

While .NET 5 which arrived in November 2020, as part of Microsoft’s push to unify the .NET technologies will serve as a merger of .NET Framework and .NET Core as it is intended to unify the .NET platforms. And the first preview of .NET 6 has already been published last month, with the public version due in November 2021.

What .NET Core 2.1 users are expected to do right away

As there will be no more updates for .NET Core 2.1, including security fixes, or technical support, Microsoft advises that users should to update to a currently supported successor, such as .NET Core 3.1 or .NET 5, with the supported versions available for download at dotnet.microsoft.com.

The end of support is scheduled for August 21, 2021; Microsoft has cautioned that if any user should run into issues and need technical support, they may not be able to help you.

So, if you are a developer and your application uses NET Core 2.1, it is strongly recommended that you migrate your application to a supported version, such as .NET 3.1 or later. And if you’re an end-user, it is recommended that you reach out to the vendor of your software to confirm that your version of the software is up-to-date.

How to Upgrade to .NET Core 3.1 or Later versions

The upgrading instructions for .NET Core 3.1 are as follows:

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 TargetFramework or TargetFrameworks element.
For instance, change netcoreapp2.1 to netcoreapp3.1.

You’ll need to update your .NET Core 2 to a supported version (.NET Core 3.1 or .NET 5.0) before this date in order to continue to receive updates.