Junos EOL

 

Product	FRS Date	End of Engineering	End of Support	Release Type
Junos OS 26.2	06/29/2026	06/29/2031	12/29/2031	EEOL
Junos OS 25.4	12/22/2025	12/22/2030	06/22/2031	EEOL
Junos OS 25.2	06/30/2025	06/30/2030	12/30/2030	EEOL
Junos OS 24.4	12/29/2024	12/29/2029	06/29/2030	EEOL
Junos OS 24.2	07/19/2024	07/19/2029	01/19/2030	EEOL
Junos OS 23.4 21	12/26/2023	12/26/2028	06/26/2029	EEOL

The Competitive Landscape - HPE/Juniper

 Here’s what the enterprise networking vendor map looks like in March 2026:

Segment	Cisco	HPE-Juniper	Arista	Palo Alto
Campus/Branch	Catalyst + Meraki	Aruba + Mist AI	Limited	N/A
Data Center Fabric	Nexus + ACI	QFX + EVPN	CloudEOS + 7800	N/A
Routing (SP/Enterprise)	IOS-XR + ASR	MX + PTX + SRX	N/A	N/A
Security (Network)	Firepower + ISE	SRX + Aruba NAC	N/A	NGFW + Prisma
AI Fabric	Silicon One	PTX12000	Etherlink	N/A
AIOps/Management	DNA Center + ThousandEyes	Mist AI + Aruba Central	CloudVision	N/A

HPE-Juniper is the only vendor besides Cisco that has checkmarks across every column. That’s the strategic significance of this deal, and it’s what makes the financial results so noteworthy.

Juniper Warranty Policy

 Warranty Start Date

"Start Date" as used in this policy means (i) the date this product is shipped from the manufacturing facilities of Juniper Networks, Inc. ("Juniper Networks"), (ii) in the case of resale by an authorized Juniper Networks distributor, the date not more than ninety (90) days after original shipment of this product by Juniper Networks, or (iii) in the case of Juniper Certified Pre-Owned ("JCPO") product, the date JCPO product is shipped from the JCPO authorized reseller.

 

Limited Hardware Warranty

Unless stated otherwise, Juniper Networks warrants that for a period of one (1) year from the Start Date, the Juniper Networks hardware purchased by customer ("Hardware") shall be free of defects in material and workmanship under normal authorized use consistent with the product instructions. This product warranty extends only to the original purchaser of the Hardware from an authorized Juniper Networks reseller or Juniper Networks, itself. In the event that Juniper Networks receives notice during the warranty period that any Hardware does not conform to its warranty, Customer’s sole and exclusive remedy, and Juniper Networks sole and exclusive liability, shall be for Juniper Networks, at its sole option, to either repair or replace the non-conforming Hardware in accordance with this limited warranty. Hardware replaced under the terms of any such warranty may be refurbished or new equipment substituted at the option of Juniper Networks. Juniper Networks will use commercially reasonable efforts to ship the replacement Hardware within twenty (20) business days after receipt of the product at a Juniper Networks Repair Center. Actual delivery times may vary depending on the customer location.

 

Limited 90-day Software Media Warrant

Juniper Networks warrants that for a period of ninety (90) days from the Start Date, the media, on which the software embedded in the Hardware ("Software") is recorded, shall be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal authorized use consistent with the product instructions. The sole and exclusive remedy of the customer and the entire liability of Juniper Networks under this limited warranty shall be the replacement of the media containing the Software.

 

Restrictions

No warranty will apply if the Hardware or Software (i) has been altered, except by Juniper Networks; (ii) has not been installed, operated, repaired, or maintained in accordance with instructions supplied by Juniper Networks in the enclosed documentation; (iii) has been subjected to unreasonable physical, thermal or electrical stress, misuse, negligence, or accident. In addition, Hardware or Software is not designed or intended for use in (i) the design, construction, operation or maintenance of any nuclear facility, (ii) navigating or operating aircraft; or (iii) operating life-support or life-critical medical equipment, and Juniper Networks disclaims any express or implied warranty of fitness for such uses. Customer is solely responsible for backing up its programs and data to protect against loss or corruption. Juniper Networks warranty obligations do not include installation support. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, no warranty shall apply beyond the published End of Support date for Hardware or Software as described in the Juniper Networks End of Life Policy and Procedure. JCPO product may be subject to additional restrictions.

 

Dead On Arrival ("DOA")

For hardware that is considered Dead On Arrival (DOA) within the first thirty (30) days from the shipment date of product from Juniper Networks manufacturing facilities, Juniper Networks will provide an expedited replacement of the affected field replaceable unit (FRU). A new unit will be made available for shipment from a designated Juniper Networks manufacturing facility within two (2) business days of RMA issuance. Defective product must be returned within ten (10) days from receipt of replacement unit, or customer will be invoiced the full purchase price of the replacement part. Customers should allow for additional transit and custom clearance time if international customs clearance is required. JCPO products that are sold after the published Last Order Date (as defined in the Juniper Networks End of Life Policy and Procedure) are excluded from this expedited DOA replacement coverage.

 

Hardware Return Procedures

Any defective item can only be returned if it references a return material authorization ("RMA") number issued by authorized Juniper Networks service personnel. To request an RMA number, customer must contact Juniper Networks Technical Assistance Center ("JTAC") via the online resource available at the URL: https://support.juniper.net/support. JTAC will only assist customers with online RMA processing pursuant to the terms of this warranty and will not provide any troubleshooting, configuration or installation assistance. Telephone calls to JTAC will not be accepted unless the customer has purchased a valid Juniper Networks service contract that is in effect as of the time of the call. The RMA number must be included on the outside carton label of the returned item. Transportation costs, if any, incurred in connection with the return of a defective item to Juniper Networks shall be borne by customer to the in-country location, if available. Juniper Networks shall pay any transportation costs incurred with the redelivery of a repaired or replaced item. If, however, Juniper Networks reasonably determines that the item is functional, the customer shall pay any transportation cost. If Juniper Networks determines, at its sole discretion, that the allegedly defective item is not covered by the terms of the warranty provided hereunder or that a warranty claim is made after the warranty period, the cost of repair by Juniper Networks, including all shipping expenses, shall be paid by customer.

The Product Warranty is only applicable to parts that are eligible for repair or replacement, please refer to Juniper Networks Hardware Replacement Eligible parts document for details.

Ansible for Junos OS

 Ansible for Junos OS enables automation of configuration, operations, and software management for Juniper devices without requiring agents on the devices. It uses the Junos XML API over NETCONF to communicate, allowing tasks to run locally on the Ansible control node. This makes it ideal for network engineers who want to automate repetitive tasks, enforce configuration standards, and manage large-scale deployments efficiently.

Key advantages include:

• Agentless architecture – no Ansible software needed on Junos devices.

• Idempotent modules – repeated runs yield consistent results.

• Simple YAML syntax – no deep Python knowledge required.

• Integration with Jinja2 templates – for dynamic configurations.

Example: Gathering Facts from a Junos Device

---

- name: Retrieve Junos device facts

hosts: junos_devices

connection: local

gather_facts: no

tasks:

- name: Collect device facts

junipernetworks.junos.junos_facts:

host: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"

user: "{{ ansible_user }}"

passwd: "{{ ansible_password }}"

register: device_info

- name: Display hostname

debug:

msg: "Device hostname is {{ device_info.ansible_facts.ansible_net_hostname }}"

How it works:

• Uses the junipernetworks.junos.junos_facts module from the Juniper Ansible collection.

• Runs locally on the control node, connecting to the device via NETCONF.

• Retrieves structured data such as hostname, serial number, and OS version.

Common Use Cases:

• Configuration management (junos_config) – push or rollback configs.

• Operational commands (junos_command, junos_rpc) – run CLI or RPC calls.

• Software upgrades (junos_package) – install or update Junos OS.

• Network provisioning – automate VLANs, routing protocols, ACLs, and more.

Recovering Junos OS on a Device Running Junos OS with Upgraded FreeBSD

Certain hardware platforms run an upgraded FreeBSD kernel (FreeBSD 10.x or later) instead of FreeBSD 6.1. Juniper Networks devices that run Junos OS with upgraded FreeBSD have two separate volumes:

• dev/gpt/junos (/junos for short) volume that is used to run Junos OS and to store the configuration and log files

• dev/gpt/oam (/oam for short), an Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) volume that is used to store a complete backup of Junos OS and the configuration.

In case of damage to the device’s software or failure of the /junos volume, you can use the backed up software and configuration stored in the /oam volume to boot the system and restore Junos OS with the recovery configuration. To perform this reboot and restore the configuration, the /oam volume must have all of the information required to provide the system with a running configuration. This information is provided by the recovery snapshot, created using the request system snapshot recovery command.

Note: You need console access to perform the following procedure to recover Junos OS.

To recover Junos OS by using the recovery snapshot stored in the /oam volume:

1. Power off the device, such as a router or a switch, by pressing the power button on the front panel.
2. Connect and configure the management device, such as a PC or a laptop, as follows:
   1. Turn off the power to the management device.
   2. Plug one end of the Ethernet rollover cable supplied with the device into the RJ-45–to–DB-9 serial port adapter supplied with the device.
   3. Plug the RJ-45–to–DB-9 serial port adapter into the serial port on the management device.
   4. Connect the other end of the Ethernet rollover cable to the console port on the device.
   5. Turn on the power to the management device.
   6. On the management device, start your asynchronous terminal emulation application (such as Microsoft Windows Hyperterminal) and select the appropriate communication (COM) port to use (for example, COM1).
   7. Configure the port settings as follows:

      • Bits per second: 9600

      • Data bits: 8

      • Parity: None

      • Stop bits: 1

      • Flow control: None

3. Power on the device by pressing the power button on the front panel.

   Verify that the POWER LED on the front panel turns green.

   The terminal emulation screen on your management device displays the boot sequence of the device.

4. Access the Junos Main Menu.

   Press Ctrl+c within the 3-second window to stop the automatic boot sequence and display the Junos Main Menu.

   content_copy zoom_out_map

   Main Menu
   
   1.  Boot [D]irectly fromJunos volume
   2.  Boot Junos volume in [S]afe mode
   
   3.  [R]eboot
   
   4.  [B]oot menu
   5.  [M]ore options
   
   Choice: 

5. At the Choice: prompt in Junos Main Menu, enter B or 4 to choose 4. [B]oot menu. Only the options valid for your device appear. The menu numbers change based on what's available.
   content_copy zoom_out_map

   Boot Menu
   
   1. Boot [P]revious installed Junos packages
   2. Boot [A]ctive Junos packages
   3. Boot Junos in [S]ingle user mode
   4. Boot from [R]ecovery snapshot
   5. Boot from [Network]
   6. Boot from [U]SB
   
   7. Boot to [O]AM shell
   
   8. Snapshot [B]oot menu
   
   9. [M]ain menu
   
   Choice: 

   Show more 
6. At the Choice: prompt in Boot Menu, enter R or 3 to choose the 4. Boot from [R]ecovery snapshot option. The device reboots into recovery mode. The following sample output shows the messages displayed on the terminal when you recover Junos OS on an EX2300 switch.
   content_copy zoom_out_map

   Booting from recovery snapshot ...
   -
   /boot/junos/boot/os-kernel/kernel data=0xe8c000 syms=[0x4+0x6b020+0x4+0x72cfe]
   /boot/junos/boot/os-kernel/ex2300-48mp.dtb size=0x18b8
   /boot/junos/boot/os-kernel/ex2300.dtb size=0x1e67
   /boot/junos/boot/junos-modules/fips_core.ko text=0x13bc data=0x275+0x7 syms=[0x4+0x7a0+0x4+0x518]
   loading required module 'netstack'
   /boot/junos/boot/netstack/netstack.ko text=0x910a3c data=0x3ae2f+0x10dded syms=[0x4+0xf0570+0x4+0xdc394]
   loading required module 'crypto'
   
   [...Output truncated...]
   
   /var/pdb/profile_db initialized                                                                                                
   Profile database initialized
   realpath: /dev/dumpdev: No such file or directory
   /etc/rc: WARNING: Dump device does not exist.  Savecore not run.
   Prefetching /usr/sbin/rpd ...
   Prefetching /usr/sbin/lacpd ...
   Prefetching /usr/sbin/chassisd ...
   mkdir: /packages/sets/active: Read-only file system
   Starting jlaunchhelperd.
   sysctl: unknown oid 'kern.rtc_retries'
   Starting cron.                                                                                                                 
   Fri Jun 22 01:25:20 PDT 2018                                                                                                   
   FreeBSD/arm (device-name) (ttyu0)                                                                                     
   login:

   Show more 
7. Log in to the device and run the command request system recover junos-volume.
   content_copy zoom_out_map

   [...Output truncated...]
   login: root
   
   --- JUNOS 18.1-20180125.0 built 2018-01-25 20:34:55 UTC
   
   root@:RE:0% FreeBSD/arm (Amnesiac) (ttyu0)
    
   login: root
    
   --- JUNOS 
   Note: Junos is currently running in recovery mode on the OAM volume
   root@:RE:0% CLI
   {master:0}
   root> request system recover junos-volume
   NOTICE: Recovering the Junos volume ... 
   ...

   Show more 
8. Reboot the device to finish the recovery.
   content_copy zoom_out_map

   root> request system reboot junos

Junos OS Evolved Overview

 

Junos OS Evolved is a unified, end-to-end network operating system that provides reliability, agility, and open programmability for successful cloud-scale deployments. With Junos OS Evolved, you can enable higher availability, accelerate your deployments, innovate more rapidly, and operate your network more efficiently. We've aligned Junos OS Evolved with Junos OS so that you can seamlessly continue to manage and to automate your network.

Benefits

Junos OS Evolved provides several benefits to Juniper Networks customers:

• It runs natively on Linux, providing direct access to all the Linux utilities and operations. With Linux integration, you can use standard Linux and open-source tools to speed up onboarding, accelerate feature adoption with a smooth upgrade process, and enjoy enhanced debugging capabilities for streamlined qualification and deployment.
• Support for 3rd party applications and tools. You can run Linux applications directly on Junos OS Evolved using Docker containers, or create custom applications for advanced networking solutions. You can use existing Linux tools and procedures to create custom functions on a developer-friendly platform with a short learning curve. This versatility allows you to create the solution that best fits your needs through simple third-party application integration and the ability to implement the components required for specific use cases.
• You can install multiple different Junos OS Evolved software releases on a device, with support for rolling back to previous versions. This gives you the flexibility to try out different software releases and easily revert back to your preferred version if necessary.
• Enhanced security at all OS layers. Junos OS Evolved uses an integrity solution called Integrity Measurement Architecture (IMA), and a companion mechanism called the Extended Verification Module (EVM). These open source protections are part of a set of Linux Security Modules that are industry-standard and consistent with the trust mechanisms specified by the Trusted Computing Group. Junos OS Evolved also supports other security features such as TPM infrastructure, hardened secure BIOS, and secure boot. Security is a core design principle for Junos OS Evolved. Juniper Networks is committed to maintaining a strong security infrastructure to keep your network safe and protected.
• Nearly all of the CLI and user interfaces are identical to those provided in Junos OS, meaning you can pick up Junos OS Evolved with a minimal learning curve. These similarities provide simplicity and operational consistency, minimizing the effort required to implement, maintain, and customize your end-to-end solution.

Native Linux Base

Whereas Junos OS runs over an instance of the FreeBSD operating system on a specific hardware element (for example, the CPU on the Routing Engine), Junos OS Evolved runs over a native Linux system. Having Linux as a base leverages a much wider, dynamic, and active development community. The Linux system also contains multiple third-party applications and tools developed for Linux that Junos OS Evolved can integrate with minimal effort.

The Junos OS Evolved infrastructure is a horizontal software layer that decouples the application processes from the hardware on which the processes run. Effectively, this decoupling creates a general-purpose software infrastructure spanning all the different compute resources on the system (Routing Engine CPUs, line card CPUs, and possibly others). Application processes (protocols, services, and so on) run on top of this infrastructure and communicate with each other by publishing and consuming (that is, subscribing to) state.

Starting the J-Web Interface

To start the J-Web interface:

1. Launch your HTTPS-enabled Web browser.

   To use HTTPS, you must have installed a certificate on the switch and enabled HTTPS.

2. After https:// in your Web browser, type the hostname or IP address of the switch and press Enter.

   The J-Web login page appears.

3. On the login page, type your username and password, and click Login.
   Note: 

   The default username is root with no password. You must change this during initial configuration or the system does not accept the configuration.

   If you are using an Application package of J-Web, the Dashboard information page appears; if you are using a Platform package of J-Web, the Configure Options page appears.