About Our Support
Safe Software makes access to our FME Community and training programs free for all FME users. Safe Software’s one-to-one Customer Support is available for customers on active maintenance or subscription for supported versions of the FME platform. If you purchased maintenance through one of our Partners, please contact them directly for Customer Support.
This page outlines our Standard support offering. For additional support options, please see our Premium Support offering.
Our support channels can be accessed from our support homepage. These may be updated from time to time at Safe’s sole discretion.
In Scope
The following issues are included in Customer Support:
- Diagnosis of product defects
- Issues encountered during installation or upgrade
- Errors arising from the FME Platform
- Responding to security concerns
- Tool configuration questions
- “How-to” questions (See note below)
- Resource guidance
- Product update questions
Note: How-to questions are limited to general inquiries about the FME Platform. Workflow design, optimization, and best practices are considered outside of the scope of Customer Support. If further assistance is needed, we recommend leveraging the FME Community or consulting with our Partners.
Out of Scope
The following types of issues are not included in Customer Support:
- Custom code development & code debugging
- Installation, migration or configuration walkthroughs
- Workflow design or optimizations
- System and network design
- 3rd party application configuration, installation or support
Customers may submit a support case for any issue encountered. However, cases involving unsupported environments or configurations may significantly impact Safe’s ability to respond and resolve such cases.
Support Hours
8am–5pm Pacific Time
Monday through Friday
(excluding recognized Canadian holidays, as applicable).
Priority Levels
The following definitions are used by Customer Support to classify and prioritize cases:
| Priority Level | Definition |
|---|---|
| P1 | A production environment of the FME Platform is completely inoperable or inaccessible to all users. |
| P2 | Issues which cause severe performance loss or features not operating as documented, that affect a majority of users. |
| P3 | Issues which cause performance loss or features not operating as documented, that affect a minority of users. |
| P4 | How-to questions, issues which cause performance loss or features not operating as documented, that affect a small minority of users. |
Target Response Times
The response times listed below are targets for initial response or guidance, not a guarantee for resolution.
| Priority Level | Response Time |
|---|---|
| P1 | 1 business day |
| P2 | 2 business days |
| P3 | 3 business days |
| P4 | 4 business days |
If you require faster response times for P1 issues, check out our Premium Support offerings.
Supported Versions
Safe Software provides technical product support on each version of the FME Platform for a period of three years from the public release date. During this period, Safe Software will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide a Customer with assistance to address technical product issues. Any fixes will typically be released in the latest version or in a future version and may require the user to upgrade to the latest version. FME versions that are older than three years from their public release date are considered retired releases and are no longer supported.
FME Release Versioning and Patching
FME follows a predictable, calendar-based versioning model designed to simplify upgrades and deliver a consistent experience across all products. Starting in 2026, Safe Software will adopt a YYYY.Release.Update versioning format across FME Form and FME Flow. This model supports a regular quarterly release cadence and introduces a formal patching policy that provides two years of critical updates for each release.
| FME Product Support | Current Release The latest quarterly active release, starting with FME 2026.1 |
Previous Release Up to two years from public release, starting with FME 2026.1 |
Mature Release Up to three years from public release |
Retired Release Older than three years from public release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submit a ticket (customers with active maintenance) |
||||
| FME Community | ||||
| Knowledge Base | ||||
| Software Updates: Critical security patches and bug fixes only | ||||
| Compatibility | Backward compatible with earlier versions in the same quarterly release. Forward compatibility is not guaranteed while the release is still active. | Backward and forward compatible within the same quarterly release, since no new functionality is introduced after it becomes inactive. |
Understanding FME Versions
The table below summarizes each part of the scheme.
| Year.release.update | Example | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 2026.3.2 | Indicates the calendar year of release. The year-based versioning does not signify a significant or breaking change but rather reflects the time of release. |
| Release | 2026.3.2 | Represents the quarterly release (March, June, September, December). Significant new code to support new functionality is introduced. Quarterly releases range from .1 to .4. |
| Update | 2026.3.2 | Represents a patch to a quarterly release. While the release is current, updates may include bug fixes, security patches, and low-risk improvements. After the next quarterly release, updates are limited to critical fixes only. |
Quarterly Releases
FME will ship four planned releases per year, on a predictable cadence:
| Release | Date |
|---|---|
| .1 | Mid March |
| .2 | Mid June |
| .3 | Mid September |
| .4 | Mid December |
Each quarterly release includes new functionality, enhancements, and resolved issues. All quarterly releases are treated with the same level of stability and quality assurance.
Update Releases Lifecycle
Updates reflect smaller, targeted changes (e.g., 2026.3.2) and are applied differently depending on whether the release is current or has entered maintenance.
Current Release (Active)
While a release is active, updates may include a mix of security patches, bug fixes, and low-risk improvements or features. Forward compatibility between patch versions is not guaranteed during this phase.
- Example: While a release is the current release (e.g., 2026.1 until 2026.2 ships in May), we may backport a broader range of fixes—including UI improvements and non-critical bug fixes—through patch versions (e.g., 2026.1.1, 2026.1.2)
Previous Releases (Maintenance)
Once a new quarterly release becomes available, updates to earlier releases are limited to critical fixes only, such as high-severity bugs or security vulnerabilities.
- Example: Once the next release ships (e.g., 2026.2), the previous release, 2026.1, enters maintenance. From this point, only critical bug fixes and security patches will be backported. Patch versions in maintenance are forward-compatible—meaning, for example, a client on 2026.1.3 can connect to a server running 2026.1.4 without issues.
Applying Updates
To apply updates, customers need to download and install the updated version manually.
Patches
Beginning with version 2026.1, every FME quarterly release will receive critical updates for two years from its original YYYY.X.0 release date.
Example:
- 2026.2.0 released on June 16, 2026
- Eligible for critical security and bug updates until June 3, 2028
- An update like 2026.2.2, released later, would still only be supported until the original end date of June 3, 2028
Note: While critical fixes are provided for two years, applying updates currently requires downloading and reinstalling the updated version of FME, with the exception of manual critical security patches provided at Safe Software’s discretion – see Product Security for more information about manual patches.
Product Security
At Safe Software, security is a top priority. We are committed to embedding security into our software development practices and addressing identified vulnerabilities in a timely and appropriate manner. We also strive to take a proactive and transparent approach to informing the FME user community of security advisories in our products.
- Established Process: We update FME versions continuously to fix vulnerabilities, including vulnerabilities in third-party components and in our own proprietary code. Newly discovered critical vulnerabilities are prioritized for rapid triage and are addressed promptly – either through direct remediation or interim mitigations where applicable. High and medium severity issues are also monitored and fixed as part of our regular security response process. At this time, low-severity vulnerabilities are not tracked independently, though in many cases, these are resolved opportunistically when affected third-party libraries are upgraded. We recommend users deploy the latest FME version to stay current with the latest security and product updates.
- Severity Levels: We determine a vulnerability’s severity based on multiple factors, including its Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score and its specific impact within the FME environment. Our patching policy prioritizes vulnerabilities with higher severity levels.
- Manual Patches When Necessary: In the event our team assesses any particular critical vulnerability to be of heightened risk to customers, we may release a patch that users can apply manually, without needing to perform a full upgrade. To help as many customers as possible protect their instances, we endeavour to offer these manual patches for older releases, up to two years from its original release date.
- Security Advisories: We publish security advisories at https://fme.safe.com/security/ and notify customers using our opt-in email list, which users may sign up to using the form located on the same page.
- Occasionally, we will post articles on the FME Knowledge Base summarizing our analysis of certain third-party vulnerabilities receiving heightened industry scrutiny. Our article will summarize the impact of the vulnerabilities as they relate to our software.
- Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure: We welcome feedback from security researchers and the general public, but we do not offer bug bounties. Our Vulnerability Disclosure Policy formalizes our process for the intake, remediation, and coordinated release of reported vulnerabilities.
- Additional Assistance: Users are encouraged to consult fme.safe.com/security for the latest information regarding security vulnerabilities, mitigations, and workarounds. If you are a customer and your questions are not addressed there, you are welcome to contact our Support team by submitting a ticket.
Note: All support is provided “as-is” and with no warranties, including any warranty of fitness for use. All templates, demos, and other information provided are non-exclusive.