[Announcement] Xilinx 2017.4 tool support deprecated

Beginning December 31, 2021 AWS will disable new AFI creations of designs made using Xilinx 2017.4 toolsets. We will also sunset FPGA Developer AMI v1.4.0 and calls to EC2 CreateFpgaImage: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/APIReference/API_CreateFpgaImage.html API will show an ‘Unsupported Version’ error in the logs generate by the AFI creation calls.

From time to time, we evaluate how we can provide great ongoing support to our customers. With the 2017.4 toolset going beyond the Xilinx technical support policies: https://www.xilinx.com/support.html, we are unable to provide ongoing support and fixes for 2017.4 Vivado tool issues for new customer designs and this in turn affects our ability to provide the best experience and support level for our customers.

FAQ
Q: Does this affect Amazon FPGA Images (AFIs) already created using Xilinx 2017.4 tools?**
A: This deprecation does not affect AFI's already created using Xilinx 2017.4 tools. This deprecation only affects new designs created with 2017.4 tools.

Q: My Application uses multiple AFI’s, can I mix and match AFI’s made between different tool versions?**
A: Yes. AFI’s are similar to bitstreams. Once created, they are placed and routed designs and thus you can mix and match AFI’s between your application.

Q: Does this change or affect any AWS Shells?**
A: No. The AWS Shells remain the same and do not change between different Xilinx tool versions. The interfaces and the shells remain the same.

Q: What happens if I have to create AFI’s with a design that we previously created with Xilinx 2017.4 tools?
A: Since the shell and it’s interfaces do not change, you can simply rebuild the design with a newer Xilinx tool. We suggest using latest tools from the supported tools list on our github: https://github.com/aws/aws-fpga/#fpga-developer-ami
Q: What happens if I have issues re-creating AFI’s with new Xilinx tools?
A: Please contact us either on this forum or on Github Issues and we’d be happy to help.