LTI 1.1 end-of-life plan
D2L is beginning the end-of-life process for legacy LTI 1.1 support in Brightspace. 1EdTech, then known as IMS Global, stopped certifying new LTI 1.1 applications more than five years ago as the industry moved toward the substantially more secure LTI 1.3 standard. D2L continued supporting existing LTI 1.1 integrations to give customers and integration providers time to transition, and now intends to retire LTI 1.1 support in Brightspace.
We recognize that LTI is used for a wide range of integrations. Many customers use applications provided by third parties, while others have developed their own applications and integrations using LTI. As a result, the work required to transition will vary between organizations and integrations.
D2L is committed to supporting customers through a smooth transition to LTI 1.3. Throughout the end-of-life process, we will provide migration guidance, enablement resources, and additional communications to help administrators understand what they need to do and when. D2L also plans to proactively contact customers who have identified LTI 1.1 usage to make them aware of the transition and available migration resources.
There is no need to immediately disable existing LTI 1.1 integrations. The most important action today is to begin understanding what your organization uses and planning for the transition.
This article provides Brightspace administrators with guidance for getting started.
Why is D2L retiring LTI 1.1?
LTI 1.3 provides a substantially more secure authentication model than legacy LTI 1.1.
Legacy LTI uses shared secrets between systems. LTI 1.3 uses OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and public-key cryptography, reducing the risks associated with shared secrets being exposed or distributed too widely.
Security threats continue to evolve, including increasingly sophisticated attacks against educational technology. Moving integrations to current security standards is an important part of protecting learning environments and the data they contain.
LTI 1.3 is already the standard for new development. D2L currently requires LTI 1.3 for new partner integrations, and many commonly used integrations already have LTI 1.3 alternatives.
End-of-life timeline
The transition will occur in phases so administrators have time to understand their current LTI 1.1 use, identify migration requirements, and complete migrations before existing LTI 1.1 launches stop working.
Date | Milestone | What this means for Brightspace administrators |
|---|
September 2026 | LTI 1.1 retirement announced | Begin reviewing your organization's current LTI 1.1 use and identifying integrations that will need to migrate. |
October 2026 | Formal notification | Identify actively used LTI 1.1 integrations, determine whether LTI 1.3 replacements exist, and begin developing migration plans. Customers with custom integrations should begin planning LTI 1.3 replacements. |
February 2027 | No new LTI 1.1 integrations | Configuring and deploying new LTI 1.1 tools will no longer be possible through the Brightspace user interface. Previously installed LTI 1.1 integrations will continue to operate. |
September 2027 | LTI 1.1 launches no longer work | Existing LTI 1.1 applications and course links will no longer launch. Required integrations and links should be migrated to LTI 1.3 before this milestone. |
This article will be updated as additional transition information becomes available.
How D2L will support the transition
D2L will continue to provide information and resources throughout the LTI 1.1 end-of-life process.
Customers can expect:
- Proactive communications to customers where D2L has identified LTI 1.1 usage
- Guidance to help administrators identify and assess LTI 1.1 integrations
- Technical documentation and migration resources
- Enablement materials to help customers understand the transition and available migration options
- Updates as important end-of-life milestones approach
- Opportunities to ask questions about the transition and migration process
Our goal is to make the requirements and available migration paths as clear as possible so administrators can plan their transition with confidence.
Recommended migration approach
You do not need to immediately disable your existing LTI 1.1 integrations. Instead, begin understanding what your organization uses and developing a migration plan.
We recommend approaching the transition in stages:
Discover → Prioritize → Plan → Test → Migrate → Verify
Discover: Identify the LTI 1.1 integrations your organization is actively using and who provides or maintains them.
Prioritize: Start with integrations that have the greatest usage or are most important to teaching and learning at your organization.
Plan: Determine whether an LTI 1.3 replacement exists and understand how both the integration and its existing course links will transition.
Test: Validate the LTI 1.3 integration and migration process with representative content before migrating broadly.
Migrate: Use the migration approach appropriate for the integration and your environment.
Verify: Confirm that migrated links launch correctly and investigate any migration errors.
Some integrations, particularly applications developed by your organization, may require development work before migration can begin. Starting discovery early will help identify these situations and allow your organization to plan accordingly.
Identifying LTI 1.1 use in Brightspace
Begin by developing an inventory of the LTI 1.1 integrations configured and actively used across your organization. Configuration alone does not indicate active adoption, so both placement and launch activity should be evaluated when prioritizing migration work.
Where LTI 1.1 is configured in Brightspace
LTI 1.1 integrations and links can be configured across tool settings, custom placements, and widgets at both the Organization and Org Unit levels. Links can carry their own key and secret or inherit credentials from a matching Tool Provider.
- Remote Plugins: Navigate to Admin Tools (Cog icon) > Remote Plugins. These remote plugins create an LTI 1.1 Tool Provider and Link.
- Tool Providers (Legacy):
- Org Level: Navigate to Admin Tools (Cog icon) > External Learning Tools > Manage Tool Providers (Legacy).
- Course Level: Navigate to Course Admin > External Learning Tools > Manage Tool Providers (Legacy).
Auditing active usage with Brightspace Data Sets (BDS)
To evaluate actual launch activity and determine which configured integrations are actively used, review the LTI data sets:
- LTI Launches Data Set: Identifies active launches, org unit location, and target URLs for LTI 1.1 links.
- LTI Links Data Set: Captures administrative events and metadata related to LTI links.
Triaging and assessing integrations
- Active Integrations: For each actively used tool, identify the vendor or maintainer and confirm whether an LTI 1.3 replacement is already available.
- Unused Integrations: Unneeded tool providers and legacy links with no path to migration should be set to invisible or deleted at the Org or Course level to reduce clutter.
Support Note: D2L will provide additional reporting and identification guidance as part of the transition, and plans to proactively contact customers where LTI 1.1 usage is identified.
Determine whether an LTI 1.3 replacement exists
For each actively used LTI 1.1 integration, determine whether an LTI 1.3 version is available.
Third-party applications
Check with the application provider to determine whether it supports LTI 1.3 and whether it provides a recommended migration process.
Having an LTI 1.3 version available does not necessarily mean your existing LTI 1.1 course links have been migrated. Your migration plan should account for both the integration and its existing links.
Applications developed by your organization
If your organization developed or maintains the integration, development work will likely be required to move it to LTI 1.3.
Begin identifying the technical owners of these integrations and evaluating the work required to implement and test an LTI 1.3 replacement.
If the original developers are no longer available, additional discovery may be required to understand what the integration does and how it is currently used.
What if no LTI 1.3 replacement exists?
You may identify an actively used LTI 1.1 integration for which an LTI 1.3 replacement is not currently available.
If the integration is provided by a third party, contact the application provider to understand whether an LTI 1.3 version is planned and its expected availability.
If the integration was developed by your organization, begin assessing the development work required to replace it with an LTI 1.3 implementation.
D2L recognizes that some migrations may be more complex than others. If you identify a significant technical or migration blocker, contact your D2L Customer Success team so the issue can be understood and appropriate guidance can be provided.
Migrating existing LTI links
Configuring an LTI 1.3 integration and migrating existing LTI 1.1 links are related but separate parts of the transition.
Brightspace provides several mechanisms for migrating existing links, including migration during Course Copy or Course Import, manual migration, and migration through APIs.
The appropriate method depends on the integration and how it has been configured.
For detailed migration options, requirements, and instructions, refer to LTI Migration.
Test before migrating broadly
Test your LTI 1.3 integration and migration process with representative content before performing large-scale migrations.
Once an LTI link has been migrated to LTI 1.3, Brightspace does not provide a mechanism to roll that link back to LTI 1.1.
What if the LTI 1.3 domain is different?
Some LTI 1.3 integrations use a different domain than their legacy LTI 1.1 integration.
Brightspace provides Migration Domain Mapping APIs that can associate legacy LTI domains with an LTI 1.3 registration domain so supported migration mechanisms can identify the appropriate replacement.
For requirements, limitations, and instructions, refer to LTI Migration Domain Mapping API Instructions.
How can I tell whether links migrated successfully?
Brightspace provides migration logging to help administrators identify successful migrations, errors, and links that could not be migrated.
Administrators should verify migrated integrations with representative course content and investigate migration errors before considering an integration fully transitioned.
For details about the Migration Log and historical migration information available through Brightspace Data Hub, refer to LTI Migration.
Additional resources
LTI data sets
Reference information for Brightspace Data Sets that can help administrators identify LTI links, launch activity, and related usage data.
LTI Migration
Detailed guidance for migrating existing LTI links to LTI 1.3 using Brightspace migration capabilities.
LTI Migration Domain Mapping API Instructions
Instructions for mapping legacy LTI domains to LTI 1.3 registration domains when the domains do not directly match.
Migrating from LTI 1.1 to LTI 1.3 with D2L Brightspace
Additional background and guidance for planning an LTI 1.3 migration.
Future-Proofing Learning Technologies
Learn about Purdue University's experience migrating LTI integrations to LTI 1.3.
Questions and support
D2L will continue publishing guidance, enablement materials, and migration resources throughout the transition.
If you are unsure where to start, have questions about the LTI 1.1 end-of-life process, or need clarification about the available Brightspace migration capabilities, contact your D2L Customer Success team.
No immediate changes to your existing LTI 1.1 integrations are required as a result of this announcement. Begin by understanding your current LTI 1.1 usage and reviewing the migration resources provided in this article. Additional communications and guidance will be provided as the transition progresses.