Support for older versions of EZproxy to be retired

OCLC announces today that it intends to retire support for EZproxy licensed software versions prior to the 5.0 release and for Solaris SPARC OS's 2.6 and 2.7, effective July 1, 2009. The current EZproxy version is 5.1C. There is no charge to upgrade to the latest version.

The 5.0 and above releases contain security enhancements, additional features for auditing and Shibboleth/Athens fixes that are unavailable in earlier versions. In addition, the administrative area in earlier versions varies widely and makes it much more challenging for libraries to troubleshoot.

"We want to make sure each EZproxy library has the best support experience possible," reflects Jim Grace, Director of OCLC Customer Support Services. "The 5.0 series is a robust version that offers improved functionality for libraries over previous versions."

OCLC encourages all EZproxy licenses to update to the latest software version to stay current with all enhancements to functionality, and can assist libraries who wish to update their licenses between now and June 30.

Alternatively, OCLC is piloting a hosted EZproxy service, and expects to move the pilot into production in 2010. Any library running an older version of the software who is interested in moving to a hosted solution, please contact ezproxy@oclc.org. (Please note additional fees will apply for hosted EZproxy.)

Download EZproxy 5.1c now

(2009 06 02)