Drupal 7 EOL

What does the end of life of Drupal 7 mean for your project?

The End of Life (EOL) of Drupal 7 on January 5, 2025 has significant impacts for your website. In this article, we explain what "EOL" means, the effects of the Drupal 7 EOL on your website, and what you can do to prepare your website for the future.

Content

➥ What does EOL mean

➥ Consequences of the EOL

➥ What we recommend

➥ How can I upgrade

➥ Process of a Migration

➥ Future-proofing with a new Drupal version

What does EOL mean?

Every product and software is subject to a lifecycle. At the end of this cycle is the "End of Life" (EOL), which means the end of support. In short, once this date is reached, the manufacturer no longer offers support for the product. For software products, this affects updates, including security updates, which are no longer available after this date.

What are the consequences of the end of support for Drupal 7?

+ Security risks

After the EOL date, no security updates will be provided for Drupal 7. This means that newly discovered security vulnerabilities will not be fixed, making your website increasingly vulnerable to attacks.

+ Technical challenges

There will be no adjustments to new software versions, such as PHP. Furthermore, there is a lack of support for new technologies and modern interface concepts. Outdated system requirements could also lead to potential hosting issues.

+ Support and maintenance

Official support from the Drupal community for Drupal 7 ends, meaning no more bug fixes will be provided. At the same time, the availability of service providers specializing in Drupal 7 projects decreases, as many agencies and developers have switched to newer versions. This leads to rising costs for specialized support for Drupal 7 projects.

We recommend an update

Although it is still fundamentally possible to continue operating a Drupal 7 site, it becomes increasingly difficult and is also associated with a higher risk after the official support ends. Therefore, we recommend switching and migrating to Drupal 10 or 11.

How can I upgrade?

Drupal 7 does not offer a direct upgrade path to newer versions such as Drupal 10 or 11. This is a central reason why support for Drupal 7 has been extended over many years.

What options do I have with Drupal?

Migration instead of Upgrade: Moving from Drupal 7 to a newer version (e.g., Drupal 10) requires a migration. This means:

Redevelopment of the business logic: The functionalities and customizations used in Drupal 7 must be transferred to the target version's technologies. Since the architecture has fundamentally changed between Drupal 7 and later versions, a complete redevelopment is often necessary.
Data migration: Content, user accounts, and other data must be migrated from Drupal 7 to the new version. Adjustments are often needed here to adapt data formats and structures to the requirements of the new version.

You can already begin with the first step for a successful migration. We recommend analyzing your existing website to decide which functions and content should be carried over.

How does a migration proceed?

The migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 is a multi-step process that begins with careful preparation. Initially, an inventory of the existing content, modules, and customizations is conducted, followed by checking compatibility with Drupal 10. Subsequently, a new Drupal 10 installation is set up.

After that, the migration of the data begins, meaning the transfer of databases that contain, for example, user information. This process requires varying amounts of time depending on the complexity of the website.

After the migration, themes and custom modules for Drupal 10 are either newly created or updated, as the architecture has fundamentally changed. As part of these adjustments, design improvements, such as in the area of accessibility, are usually made. At keytec, we can also support you here with our in-house design team.

Finally, extensive testing is conducted, redirections are set up to secure SEO metadata, and the launch of the new website takes place.

The process can take some time depending on the complexity of the website, especially if there are many custom modifications or unsupported modules present.

Will I face the same issue with Drupal 12?

Since version 8, which was released in 2015, Drupal has fundamentally changed its system. Instead of major upgrades, like from Drupal 6 to 7, there are now continuous updates and patches that improve the system.

You can compare this to a racetrack: Drupal 7 and earlier versions were like individual sprinters running the race alone. However, with Drupal 8, it's like a relay race: the "baton" is passed from one sprinter to the next. This is how Drupal functions today.

When transitioning from Drupal 8 to 9, the "baton" is indeed passed, but a completely new race is not started. The versions build on each other, which means that Drupal websites can be updated more easily and quickly. This allows the websites to stay up to date and secure with less effort.

New versions in Drupal are created through patches that result from various community issues. These are then compiled into a new version and released as, for example, version 8.1.5.

Conclusion

While it is still possible to keep a Drupal 7 website live, we strongly advise against it, as it involves higher effort and continuously rising costs.

Since Drupal 8, it has become significantly easier to perform updates and thus keep the site current and future-proof. Transitioning from Drupal 7 to 10 or 11 involves a one-time additional effort but guarantees future security.

Does keytec undertake migration projects?

Yes! We have extensive experience with migrations of various scopes and are happy to assist you with your project. Thanks to our well-coordinated design and developer teams, we can support you not only technically but also with design adjustments or the complete redesign of your project.