Debian 11 (Bullseye)
Debian 11 (Bullseye) reached End-of-Life on 2026-08-31. Options for running systems: upgrade via 12 to 13, buy third-party ELTS, or isolate and decommission.
Debian 11, codename Bullseye, was released on August 14, 2021. Its LTS support ended on August 31, 2026 — Debian no longer provides any security updates, so the release is at End-of-Life.
EOL: act on running systems
Bullseye systems receive no security updates, and internet-exposed machines get riskier by the day. Three routes: upgrade through Debian 12 to 13, buy third-party ELTS, or isolate and decommission.
📌 Historical reference
| Item | Info |
|---|---|
| Release date | 2021-08-14 |
| Last point release | 11.11 (during LTS) |
| Kernel | Linux 5.10 LTS series |
| Desktop | GNOME 3.38 |
| LTS ended | 2026-08-31 |
| ELTS | Until 2031-06-30 (third-party commercial, subset of packages) |
🔄 What to do with running Debian 11 systems
- Preferred: step-wise upgrade — Debian does not support skipping releases. The standard route is 11 → 12 → 13, applying the upgrade guide process at each step: fully update, switch sources, full-upgrade, reboot and verify. Back up
/etcand your data first. - Can't upgrade: ELTS — a subset of packages can get paid security updates until 2031-06-30 via third-party Extended LTS, for legacy systems that can't be reworked quickly.
- Can't upgrade and not needed: isolate or decommission — move off the public internet, restrict access, and plan replacement.
Common upgrade pitfalls: third-party repositories (Docker, Node, etc.) need their bullseye → bookworm addresses updated per step; the non-free-firmware component exists from 12 onward, so migrate firmware packages into it after the upgrade.
🔗 Related pages
Debian 12 (Bookworm)
The Debian 12 (Bookworm) page: 12.15 status, LTS support until 2028, differences from Debian 13, the upgrade path, and downloads. Start here if you still run Bookworm.
Debian 10 (Buster)
Debian 10 (Buster) left LTS on 2024-06-30 and only third-party ELTS remains (until 2029-06-30). Step-wise migration route 10→11→12→13 and practical advice.