---
layout: markdown_page
title: Statement of Support
description: "What is and is not within the scope of support at GitLab."
---

The GitLab support team is here to help. This document defines what we support in terms of our products, services, and applications. Part of providing effective support is defining what is outside of the scope of support.

Scope of support, in the simplest terms, is what we support and what we do not. Ideally, we would support everything. However, without reducing the quality of our support or increasing the price of our products this would be impossible. These "limitations" help us to create a more consistent and efficient support experience.

Please understand that any support that might be offered beyond the scope defined here is done
at the discretion of the agent or engineer and is provided as a courtesy.

## On This Page
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- TOC
{:toc}

## Self-managed

### Starter, Premium, and Ultimate Users

We will help troubleshoot all components bundled with GitLab Omnibus when used
as a packaged part of a GitLab installation. Any assistance with modifications to GitLab, including new functionality, bug-fixes, issues with alpha features or other code changes should go through the GitLab [issue tracker](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues), triage, and release cycle. Support is not offered for local modifications to GitLab source code.

Your Support Contract will cover support for Beta features. We will automatically triage tickets for Beta features with the lowest priority available.

We understand that GitLab is often used in complex environments in combination with a variety of tools. We'll do best-effort support in debugging components that work alongside GitLab.

#### We support the current major version and the two previous major versions
Unless otherwise specified in your support contract, we support the current major version and previous two major versions only. For example, if `12.x` is the current major version, GitLab installations running versions in the `12.x`, `11.x` and `10.x` series are eligible for support.

If you obtained an Ultimate license as part of GitLab's [Open Source or Education programs](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2018/06/05/gitlab-ultimate-and-gold-free-for-education-and-open-source/),
Support (as included with Starter, Premium or Ultimate licenses) is **not** included unless purchased separately. Please see the [GitLab OSS License/Subscription Details](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/community-relations/opensource-program/blob/master/README.md#licensesubscription-details) for additional details.

#### First-time installation and new features

For assistance with first-time installations and configuration of new features, we highly recommend using our comprehensive [documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/):

* First-time installation [step by step guide](https://about.gitlab.com/install/)
* [Updating your GitLab instance](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/update/README.html)
* [High availability](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/high_availability/README.html) 
* [Kubernetes clusters](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/clusters/)    

Alternatively, you can reach out to our Professional Services team via the following [page](https://about.gitlab.com/services/).
Our Professional Services team provides training and assistance with design and implementation of new features and installations.

In case you are facing challenges after attempting an installation of a new deployment or implementing new features, a support ticket can be opened using our [support portal](/support/#contact-support).

### Core and Community Edition Users

If you are seeking help with your GitLab Core or Community Edition installation, note that
the GitLab Support Team is unable to directly assist with issues with specific installations
of these versions. Please use the following resources instead:

- [GitLab Documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com): Extensive documentation
regarding the possible configurations of GitLab.
- [GitLab Community Forum](https://forum.gitlab.com/): This is the best place to have
a discussion about your Community Edition configuration and options.
- [Stack Overflow](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/gitlab): Please search
for similar issues before posting your own, as there's a good chance somebody else
had the same issue as you and has already found a solution.

Our [community advocates](/handbook/marketing/community-relations/community-advocacy/)
also spend time on the Community Forum and Stack Overflow to help where they can, and
escalate issues as needed.

### Out of Scope

The following details what is outside of the scope of support for self-managed instances with a license.

| Out of Scope       | Example        | What's in-scope then?   |
|--------------------|----------------|-------------------------|
| 3rd party applications and integrations | *I can't get Jenkins to run builds kicked off by GitLab. Please help me figure out what is going on with my Jenkins server.* | GitLab Support can help ensure that GitLab is providing properly formatted data to 3rd party applications and integrations. |
| Debugging EFS problems | *GitLab is slow in my HA setup. I'm using EFS.* | EFS and GlusterFS are **not** recommended for HA setups (see our [HA on AWS doc](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/university/high-availability/aws/)).<br/><br/>GitLab Support can help verify that your HA setup is working as intended, but will not be able to investigate EFS or GlusterFS backend storage issues. |
| Troubleshooting non-GitLab Omnibus components | *I'm trying to get GitLab to work with Apache, can you provide some pointers?* | GitLab Support will only assist with the specific components and versions that ship with the GitLab Omnibus package, and only when used as a part of a GitLab installation. | 
| Local modifications to GitLab | *We added a button to ring a bell in our office any time an MR was accepted, but now users can't log in.* | GitLab Support would direct you to create a feature request or submit a merge request for code review to incorporate your changes into the GitLab core. | 
| Old versions of GitLab | *I'm running GitLab 7.0 and X is broken.* | GitLab Support will invite you to upgrade your installation to a more current release. Only the current and two previous major versions are supported. |
| Instance migration configuration and troubleshooting | *We migrated GitLab to a new instance and cannot SSH into the server.* | GitLab Support will assist with issues that arise from the GitLab components. GitLab Support will not be able to assist with any issues stemming from the server or it's configuration (see GitLab Instance Migration on the [Support page](../support/index.html)). |

## GitLab.com

### Bronze, Silver, and Gold Users

GitLab.com has a full team of Site Reliability Engineers and Production Engineers monitoring its status 24/7. This means that often, by the time you notice something is amiss, there's someone already looking into it.

We recommend that all GitLab.com customers follow [@gitlabstatus](https://twitter.com/gitlabstatus) on Twitter and use our [status page](https://status.gitlab.com) to keep informed of any incidents.

If you obtained a Gold subscription as part of [GitLab's Open Source or Education programs](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2018/06/05/gitlab-ultimate-and-gold-free-for-education-and-open-source/),
support is **not** included unless purchased separately. Please see the [GitLab OSS License/Subscription Details](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/community-relations/opensource-program/blob/master/README.md#licensesubscription-details) for additional details.

### Free Plan Users

Technical and general support for those using our free options is “Community First”.
Like many other free SaaS products, users are first directed to find support in community
sources such as the following:

- [GitLab Documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com): Extensive documentation
on anything and everything GitLab.
- [GitLab Community Forum](https://forum.gitlab.com): Get help directly from the community. When able, GitLab employees also participate and assist in answering questions.
- [Stack Overflow](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/gitlab): Please search
for similar issues before posting your own, as there's a good chance somebody else
had the same issue as you and has already found a solution.

You can also follow [@gitlabstatus](https://twitter.com/GitLabStatus) on Twitter for status
updates on GitLab.com, or check [our status page](https://status.gitlab.com/) to see if
there is a known service outage.

The GitLab.com support team _does_ offer support for:

- Account specific issues (unable to log in, GDPR, etc.)
- Broken features/states for specific users or repositories
- Issues with GitLab.com availability

For help with these issues please open a [support request](https://support.gitlab.com).
For *free* GitLab.com users seeking support, a support agent or engineer may determine that the request
is more appropriate for community forums or the issue tracker than for the official GitLab Support Team.

Note that issues affecting paid users receive a higher priority. There are no guaranteed response times associated with free accounts.

### Out of Scope

The following details what is outside of the scope of support for GitLab.com customers with a subscription.

| Out of Scope       | Example        | What's in-scope then?   |
|--------------------|----------------|-------------------------|
| 3rd party applications and integrations | *I can't get Jenkins to run builds kicked off by GitLab. Please help me figure out what is going on with my Jenkins server* | GitLab Support can help ensure that Gitlab is providing properly formatted data to 3rd party applications and integrations in the bare-minimum configuration. |
| Troubleshooting non-GitLab components | *How do I merge a branch?* | .com Support will happily answer any questions and help troubleshoot any of the components of GitLab |
| Consulting on language or environment-specific configuration | *I want to set up a YAML linter CI task for my project. How do I do that?* | The Support Team will help you find the GitLab documentation for the related feature and can point out common pitfalls when using it. |

## Out of Scope for All Tiers

The following are outside of the scope of support for both users of Self-managed GitLab and GitLab.com with or without a license or subscription.

### General
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1. **Training**: Support is unable to provide training on the use of the underlying technologies that GitLab relies upon. GitLab is a product aimed at technical users, and Support expects our users and customers be versed in the basic usage of the technologies related to features that they're seeking support for. For example, a customer looking for help with a Kubernetes integration should understand Kubernetes to the extent that they could retrieve log files or perform other basic tasks without in-depth instruction.

### Git
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1. `git` specific commands and issues (not related to GitLab)

### CI/CD
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1. Helping debug specific commands or scripts in a `.gitlab-ci.yml`
1. Issues other than configuration or setup of private runner **hosts**