Customer Support policy
Updated June 13, 2026
| Effective Date | June 2026 |
| Provider | Severalnines AB |
| Document Version | 1.0 |
| Review Cycle | Annual, or upon material product changes |
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Products Covered
2.1 ClusterControl — Database Management Platform
2.2 CCX — DBaaS Platform for ISPs, MSPs, and CSPs
2.3 CCX Cloud — Fully-managed, highly available cloud DBaaS
2.4 Kubernetes Operator Support Boundaries - Support Tiers
3.1 Community Tier (Community Edition & Advanced Self-Serve)
3.2 Advanced Tier
3.3 Enterprise Tier
3.4 Tier Comparison Matrix - Severity Definitions and Response SLAs
4.1 Severity Level Definitions
4.2 Response Time SLA by Tier - Support Scope
- Contacting Support
6.1 Submitting a Support Case (Advanced & Enterprise)
6.2 Case Resolution
6.3 Escalation
6.4 Feature Requests
6.5 Professional Communication - Product Lifecycle
- Out-of-Scope Services (Professional Services)
- Customer Responsibilities
- Exclusions and Limitations
- Contacts
1. Overview
This Customer Support Policy defines the support services, coverage tiers, engagement procedures, severity classifications, and response time objectives provided by Severalnines AB for its database management products. It applies to all customers holding a valid subscription, support contract, or evaluation license.
Solution design, architecture review, performance analysis, and product training are outside the scope of standard support and are available separately under a Professional Services Agreement (PSA).
Self-Service Resources
Before submitting a support request, customers are encouraged to consult the Severalnines Documentation (docs.severalnines.com), and Community Forums. Many common questions are resolved quickly through these resources.
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Documentation Portal | Official product guides, installation manuals, and configuration references for ClusterControl and CCX. |
| Community Forums | Peer discussion boards moderated by Severalnines engineers. Available to all registered users at no charge. |
| Customer Portal | Submit and track support cases. |
2. Products Covered
This policy applies to the following Severalnines products. Each product serves a distinct audience with specific support considerations.
2.1 ClusterControl — Database Management Platform
ClusterControl is an on-premises database cluster management platform targeting database administrators and DevOps teams. It provides automated deployment, monitoring, backup, failover, and management for open-source and proprietary databases including MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, TimescaleDB, MongoDB, SQL Server, Redis, Valkey and Elasticsearch.
Support for ClusterControl covers the application suite installed by ClusterControl installer script, namely – ClusterControl Controller (CMON), ClusterControl UI, ClusterControl CLI (s9s), ClusterControl Proxy (cmon-proxy), ClusterControl Kubernetes Proxy (kuber-proxy), ClusterControl Web SSH (cmon-ssh), ClusterControl Cloud integration (cmon-cloud and cmon-clud), ClusterControl Notification (cmon-events), ClusterControl Agent (cmnd).
ClusterControl fully supports database clusters deployed in Kubernetes (K8s) environments and managed via the ClusterControl Kubernetes Proxy. For hybrid estates that span traditional and containerized deployments, consult the detailed guidelines regarding operator-specific support. These operator-specific support boundaries, including the scope of support for third-party operators and custom configurations within Kubernetes, are outlined in section 2.4 Kubernetes Operator Support Boundaries.
2.2 CCX — DBaaS Platform for ISPs, MSPs, and CSPs
CCX is a cloud-native Database-as-a-Service platform designed for Internet Service Providers, Managed Service Providers, and Cloud Service Providers. It enables providers to offer fully managed, highly available database services to their own end customers.
CCX Provider Support Model
Support for CCX is delivered to the provider (ISP/MSP/CSP), not to the provider’s end customers. The provider is responsible for first-line support of their customers. Severalnines provides second-line support to the provider under this policy and any applicable Support Scope Agreement (SSA). End customers of CCX providers do not directly engage Severalnines support unless a separate direct agreement exists.
2.3 CCX Cloud — Fully-managed, highly available cloud DBaaS
CCX Cloud is a fully managed Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform provided by Severalnines to simplify the deployment, operation, and scaling of open-source databases in cloud and hybrid environments. Built for enterprises, service providers, and modern application teams, the platform delivers highly available database clusters with automated provisioning, failover, backups, monitoring, and lifecycle management.
The platform supports popular open-source database technologies such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, and Redis-compatible solutions, giving customers the flexibility to run production-grade databases without vendor lock-in. CCX Cloud provides built-in observability, disaster recovery capabilities, scaling options, and security controls that help organizations meet performance, compliance, and sovereignty requirements.
2.4 Kubernetes Operator Support Boundaries
ClusterControl provides database lifecycle and Day 2 operations management for database clusters deployed in Kubernetes environments using the ClusterControl Kubernetes Proxy (kuber-proxy). This ensures a consistent operations layer across hybrid estates, unifying management of databases on virtual machines and containerized deployments.
Supported Scope:
Support for Kubernetes deployments is generally available (GA) and covers the following areas:
- Support for Kubernetes deployments is generally available (GA) and covers the following areas:
- Supported Operators: ClusterControl currently supports managing MySQL/Percona XtraDB clusters deployed via the MOCO operator and PostgreSQL clusters deployed via the cloudnative-pg operator.
- Operations Management:
o Deploying and managing the lifecycle of supported database operators.
o Centralized backup management, including defining placement, schedules, and facilitating restoration.
o Resource and database configuration template management.
o Monitoring and troubleshooting, including retrieving and viewing logs from K8s pods.
o Integration with declarative tools (e.g., Argo CD) for GitOps workflows. - GitOps Boundaries: ClusterControl supports GitOps for operator lifecycle and day-2 operations workflows via the ClusterControl UI/CLI. The following limitations apply:
o Included: GitOps manages agent connection, operator lifecycle, and standardized database operations.
o Excluded: Direct GitOps-based database cluster bootstrap (initial cluster deployment from a Git repository) is currently a roadmap item and not yet supported. All initial cluster deployments must be initiated via the ClusterControl UI/CLI, which then manages the operator configuration files.
Out-of-Scope Activities:
- Support for custom, non-certified, or third-party Kubernetes operators beyond MOCO and cloudnative-pg.
- Troubleshooting general Kubernetes infrastructure issues (e.g., CNI, storage, cluster networking, or problems arising outside the ClusterControl/Operator layer). These are subject to the general exclusions defined in Section 10.
- Customizing or debugging the underlying source code of third-party operators.
3. Support Tiers
Support tiers are tied to the product license. The applicable tier is determined by the license edition purchased. The three tiers are summarized below.
| Tier | ClusterControl License/Platform | Support Channel | Support Hours | Incidents / Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community | Community, Advanced Self-Serve | Community forums only | Best effort | N/A |
| Advanced | Advanced | Web / Email | Business hours | 12 |
| Enterprise | Enterprise, Trial, CCX Cloud | Web / Email / Live Support | 24 x 7 | Unlimited |
Business Hours Definition
Business hours are defined in the applicable order form. If not specified, business hours mean Monday – Friday, 09:00 – 17:00 Central European Time (CET/CEST), excluding Swedish public holidays.
3.1 Community Tier (Community Edition & Advanced Self-Serve)
Customers using the free Community Edition or the Advanced Self-Serve license receive community-level support only. Support is provided through the Severalnines Community Forums and public documentation on a best-effort basis. No response time guarantees or SLAs apply.
- Community Edition: Free forever; includes deploy/monitor and performance advisors.
- Advanced Self-Serve: Monthly pay-as-you-go (from €250/node/month); all Advanced features; limited to 2–5 nodes; community support only.
- No ticket-based support cases can be raised under Community or Self-Serve licenses.
- No screen sharing sessions available under this tier.
- No custom builds available under this tier.
3.2 Advanced Tier
Customers with an Advanced license receive business-hours ticket support via web and email. This tier is intended for production deployments where business-hours coverage is sufficient.
- Support access: Web portal and email during standard business hours.
- 12 support incidents included per contract year. Additional incidents may be purchased as an optional add-on.
- Response time target: 1 business day for all severities.
- Screen sharing sessions: Not included. Not available under this tier.
- Custom builds: Not available under this tier.
- Out-of-hours support: Not available; incidents initiated outside business hours are queued for the next business day.
Incident Definition — Advanced Tier
An “incident” is a unique, discrete support case opened via the Customer Portal. Multiple interactions on the same root issue within a single case are counted as one incident. If a case is resolved and the same issue recurs, a new case (and incident) is counted. Unused incidents do not roll over to the next contract year.
3.3 Enterprise Tier
ClusterControl customers with an Enterprise license, as well as CCX Cloud customers, receive the highest level of support, including 24×7 coverage, screen sharing, and access to custom builds.
Enterprise evaluation (trial) licenses may receive Enterprise-level support only where expressly agreed.
- Support access: Web portal and email.
- 24×7 support coverage for all severity levels.
- Unlimited support incidents.
- Response time: 2 hours for SEV-1 (see Section 4 for full SLA matrix).
- Screen sharing and live support sessions: Included with unlimited duration for SEV-1 severity level. For SEV-2, SEV-3, and SEV-4, screen-sharing sessions are available during business hours and are limited to two hours per session. Out-of-hours screen-sharing for SEV-2, SEV-3, or SEV-4 may be provided at Severalnines’ discretion and is billable at USD 250/hour, billed in 30-minute increments, with a minimum charge of 30 minutes per engagement session. Sessions are conducted using a mutually agreed-upon tool and limited to the scope of the active support ticket.
- Custom builds: Available only for SEV-1 issues and crashing bugs. Requests for custom builds must be submitted via the Customer Portal and are evaluated by the Severalnines engineering team. Custom build timelines are agreed on a case-by-case basis.
- Remote login access: Available upon mutual agreement for hands-on troubleshooting sessions.
- Remote login/screen sharing requires explicit customer authorization, least privilege access, auditability. Severalnines assumes no responsibility for credentials shared insecurely.
3.4 Tier Comparison Matrix
| Feature / Entitlement | Community | Self-Serve | Advanced | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support channel | Forums | Forums | Web/Email | Web/Email |
| Support hours | Best effort | Best effort | Business hours | 24 x 7 |
| Incidents per year | N/A | N/A | 12 (add-on available) | Unlimited |
| Response time target | N/A | N/A | 1 business day | 2 hours |
| Ticket-based cases | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Screen sharing | – | – | – | ✓ |
| Remote login | – | – | – | ✓ |
| Custom builds | – | – | – | ✓ |
✓ = Included – = Not available
4. Severity Definitions and Response SLAs
All support requests must be classified by severity at the time of submission. Severity determines response time, escalation path, and the applicable handling procedure. Customers and Severalnines engineers will discuss and agree on the severity level; adjustments may be made by mutual consent as conditions evolve.
4.1 Severity Level Definitions
| Level | Name | Definition | Example Issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEV-1 | Critical | Complete production outage affecting all customers or all database instances. No workaround available. Business operations are fully halted. | All databases down across all deployments; CCX platform completely inaccessible; critical data loss event in progress. |
| SEV-2 | High | Partial production outage or severe degradation affecting a significant subset of customers or instances. Workaround may exist but is not sustainable. | Inability to use ClusterControl; a single deployment or a customer’s entire cluster is down; automated backups failing for multiple customers; deployment pipeline broken for all users. |
| SEV-3 | Medium | Non-critical functionality impaired. A subset of features is unavailable or degraded. Business operations continue with a workaround. | A single node within a cluster is unhealthy but the cluster remains operational; a single user’s backup restore is failing; configuration changes are not applied correctly. |
| SEV-4 | Low | Minor issue, cosmetic defect, or general question. No meaningful impact on operations. | UI display inconsistency; request for log files; question about configuration options; general how-to inquiries. |
4.2 Response Time SLA by Tier
The table below shows initial response time targets. For active SEV-1 incidents, Severalnines will provide periodic updates until resolution, workaround, or severity downgrade.
| Level | Community / Self-Serve | Advanced | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEV-1 | Best effort (forums) | 1 business day | 2 hours (24×7) |
| SEV-2 | Best effort (forums) | 1 business day | 4 hours (24×7) |
| SEV-3 | Best effort (forums) | 1 business day | 1 business day |
| SEV-4 | Best effort (forums) | 2 business day | 2 business day |
SLA clock pauses while waiting for customer input, access, logs, third-party vendor response, or scheduled maintenance windows.
Response Time Definition
Response time targets represent the time to initial acknowledgment and assignment of a support engineer, not time to resolution. Resolution timelines vary based on issue complexity.
Service Credit Disclaimer
Response targets are service objectives and do not create service credit rights unless expressly stated in a signed agreement.
5. Support Scope
The following matrix defines what is and is not included in standard support across all tiers. Activities outside the supported scope may be available under a Professional Services Agreement.
| Area | Description | Advanced | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deployment Guidance | UI-driven and CLI-driven deployment workflows for ClusterControl and CCX. Guidance on standard environment setups. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automated Recovery | CCX and ClusterControl native recovery including node rebuilding, removing and re-adding nodes via the platform UI or CLI. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Backup & Restore (UI-driven) | Automated backup and restoration via ClusterControl and CCX UI or CLI. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Configuration Management | Modifying pre-configured variables via the UI; assistance with variables not exposed in the UI. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scaling (UI-driven) | Node scaling including automated scaling via the platform UI. For CCX it includes storage scaling. | ✓ | ✓ |
| User Management | Creating/removing database users via UI; elevated permissions assistance. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Troubleshooting | Identifying and resolving issues with failed user-initiated and CCX/ClusterControl-automated actions. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Log Access | Database and platform logs provided upon request. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Screen Sharing Sessions | Real-time collaborative troubleshooting via screen share. | – | ✓ |
| Remote Login | Direct remote access (or VPN/bastion) for hands-on troubleshooting. | – | ✓ |
| Custom Builds | Custom product builds for crashing and critical bugs. | – | ✓ |
| Manual Recovery | Recovery outside of CCX and ClusterControl-native functionality. | N/S | N/S |
| Manual Backup Restore | Restoration outside of platform UI. Partial restores are not supported under any tier. | N/S | N/S |
| Performance Management | Performance analysis, database audits, and query tuning. Available via PSA. | PSA | PSA |
| Root Cause Analysis | Formal post-incident RCA documentation. | PSA | ✓ |
| Non-Standard Environments | Manually deployed or non-standard environments. Architecture guidance via PSA. | PSA | PSA |
✓ = Supported – = Not available at this tier N/S = Not supported at any tier PSA = Available under Professional Services Agreement
6. Contacting Support
Support requests must be submitted by designated case administrators with the appropriate system access and technical knowledge to work with Severalnines engineers. Community and Self-Serve license holders may not open ticket-based cases and should use the community forums (unless instructed otherwise).
When opening a case, be prepared to provide:
- Your name, organization, and business email address
- Product name, version, and any recent patches or updates applied
- Severity classification and a clear description of the issue and its business impact
- Exact text of error messages, relevant log excerpts, and steps to reproduce the issue
- Any workarounds attempted and their outcome
6.1 Submitting a Support Case (Advanced & Enterprise)
Cases are submitted via the Severalnines Support Portal. 1 Upon submission, you will receive an email confirmation with a unique case number. Cases can be tracked and updated through the portal at any time. Only use the organization email address when submitting a case.
1 https://support.severalnines.com
6.2 Case Resolution
Severalnines will make two contact attempts on separate business days when awaiting customer input on an open case. If contact cannot be established, the case may be closed. If the issue persists, a new case may be opened referencing the prior case number. Resolution may include:
- A software fix or patch (case closed)
- A permanent or temporary workaround (case closed or severity reduced)
- An action plan with milestones for fix or workaround development
- Confirmation that the issue is outside support scope (customer notified, case closed)
6.3 Escalation
If at any point you are dissatisfied with the handling of a case, you may request escalation by reaching out to the account manager. Escalated cases are reviewed by a senior support engineer or support manager.
6.4 Feature Requests
Feature requests should be submitted via the Severalnines Community Forums2 (for Community and Self-Serve tiers) or through Severalnines Support Portal1 (Advanced and Enterprise). Requests are evaluated based on user demand, business value, and technical feasibility. Severalnines cannot guarantee implementation of all requests.
1 https://support.severalnines.com
2 https://support.severalnines.com/hc/en-us/community/topics/200447603-Feature-Requests
6.5 Professional Communication
Severalnines is committed to professional and respectful support interactions. Customers are expected to engage courteously with support engineers. Severalnines reserves the right to limit or suspend support engagement where conduct is abusive, threatening, or disruptive.
7. Product Lifecycle
The level of support provided depends on the lifecycle phase of the specific product version in use. Customers are encouraged to run current releases to benefit from full coverage, active bug fixes, and security patches.
| Phase | Support Level | Fixes & Patches |
|---|---|---|
| General Availability (GA) | Full support | Bug fixes, security patches, and hotfixes available |
| Maintenance Support | Support available | Existing fixes available; no new fixes created |
| End of Support | No support | No fixes or patches; upgrade strongly recommended |
| Withdrawn from Market | No support | Not available |
Hotfix Policy
Hotfix development is only available to Enterprise customers running the most recent publicly available build of the affected product. Customers on End of Support versions should upgrade prior to contacting support.
8. Out-of-Scope Services (Professional Services)
The following activities are explicitly outside the scope of standard support but are available separately through a Professional Services Agreement (PSA). To initiate a PSA engagement, contact your account manager at [email protected].
| Service | Description |
|---|---|
| Performance Analysis | Database audits, workload-specific performance reviews, and query tuning engagements. |
| Root Cause Analysis | Formal RCA is included for Enterprise SEV-1 incidents unless otherwise agreed. RCA for lower severities or Advanced-tier customers may be available under a PSA. |
| Architecture Design | Design guidance for non-standard, custom, or highly specialised deployment environments. |
| Implementation Services | Hands-on assistance with initial setup, cluster migration, and infrastructure planning. |
| Product Training | Structured training programs for ClusterControl and CCX operations teams. |
| Custom Integrations | Development or review of custom tooling, scripts, or integrations built on Severalnines APIs. |
9. Customer Responsibilities
To ensure efficient support engagements and accurate SLA measurement, customers are expected to:
- Accurately classify the severity level of support requests at the time of submission.
- Designate case administrators with sufficient technical knowledge and system access to facilitate troubleshooting.
- Respond promptly to engineer requests during active support engagements.
- Maintain production environments on supported product versions to remain eligible for full support coverage.
- For CCX providers: manage first-line communication with end customers and coordinate any Severalnines involvement as described in Section 2.2.
- Advanced tier customers: monitor incident consumption across the contract year and arrange additional incident packs in advance if required.
10. Exclusions and Limitations
Important Limitations
This policy does not cover issues arising from customer-side infrastructure, network, or configuration changes made outside of ClusterControl or CCX.
- Issues caused by third-party software, hardware, cloud provider outages, or customer network infrastructure are outside scope. Severalnines may assist in isolating such issues but is not responsible for their resolution.
- Severalnines does not guarantee zero data loss during recovery operations.
- Split-brain scenarios are resolved exclusively through node rebuilding. Manual split-brain resolution is not supported.
- Manual partial backup restores are not supported under any support tier.
- Custom script development, debugging, or maintenance is outside the scope of standard support. Only official API endpoints and CLI commands are supported.
- Advanced Self-Serve license: incidents are not available. Community forums are the sole support channel.
11. Contacts
For support inquiries, use the appropriate channel based on your license tier. Always include your Support ID and case number (if applicable) when contacting support.
| Channel | URL / Contact | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Portal | support.severalnines.com | Advanced & Enterprise: open, track, and update support cases. |
| Documentation | docs.severalnines.com | All tiers: technical guides, release notes, API references. |
| Community Forums | support.severalnines.com/hc/en-us/community/topics | All tiers: peer support, feature requests, general questions. |
| Sales / Account | [email protected] | Professional Services, PSA engagements, contract inquiries, custom builds. |
By engaging support services under any paid Severalnines license, the customer acknowledges and agrees to the terms defined in this policy. This document supersedes any prior verbal or written understandings regarding support scope and procedures.