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AlmaLinux

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AlmaLinux
Screenshot of default desktop on AlmaLinux version 9.1, showing AlmaLinux homepage inFirefox.
DeveloperThe AlmaLinux OS Foundation
Written inC(kernel)
OS familyLinux(Unix-like)
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Initial release30 March 2021;3 years ago(2021-03-30)
Latest release
9:9.4 / 6 May 2024(51 days ago)(2024-05-06)
8:8.10 / 28 May 2024(29 days ago)(2024-05-28)
Repositorygithub.com/AlmaLinux
Marketing targetServers,desktop computers,workstations,supercomputers
Update methodDNF
Package managerRPM
Platformsx86-64AArch64ppc64les390x
KerneltypeMonolithic(Linux kernel)
UserlandGNU
Default
user interface		GNOME Shell,Bash
LicenseGPLv2and others
Preceded byCentOS
Official websitealmalinux.org

AlmaLinuxis a free and open sourceLinux distribution,developed by the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, a501(c) organization,to provide a community-supported,production-gradeenterprise operating system that isbinary-compatiblewithRed Hat Enterprise Linux(RHEL). The name of the distribution comes from the word "alma", meaning "soul" in Spanish and other Latin languages. It was chosen to be a homage to the Linux community.[1]

The first stable release of AlmaLinux was published on March 30, 2021,[2]and will be supported until March 1, 2029.[3]AlmaLinux is built using publicly-viewable and reproducible methods using the AlmaLinux Build System (ALBS), which is a customizedbuild systemwhose source code, like the distribution itself, is publicly distributed and licensed underopen-source licenses.

History[edit]

On December 8, 2020,Red Hatannounced that development ofCentOS,a free-of-costdownstreamfork of the commercial Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), would be discontinued and its official support would be cut short to focus on CentOS Stream, a stable LTS release without minor releases officially used by Red Hat to preview what is intended for inclusion in updates to RHEL.[4][5][6]

In response, CloudLinux – which maintains its own commercial Linux distribution,CloudLinux OS– announced that it would back AlmaLinux to provide a community-supported spiritual successor to CentOS Linux,[7]aiming for binary-compatibility with the current version of RHEL.[8]A beta version of AlmaLinux was first released on February 1, 2021,[9]and the first stable release of AlmaLinux was published on March 30, 2021.[2]AlmaLinux 8.x will be supported until 2029.[10]Numerous companies, such asARM,AWS,Equinix,andMicrosoft,also support AlmaLinux.[11]On March 30, 2021, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation was created as a501(c) organizationto take over AlmaLinux development and governance from CloudLinux, which has promised $1 million in annual funding to the project.[12]

Following the release of AlmaLinux 8.6, on June 20, 2022, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation released the AlmaLinux Build System (ALBS).[13]

In September 2022, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation held its first election,[14]announcing a board of 7 community-elected members on September 19.[15]Shortly after the election, Igor Seletskiy, the CEO of CloudLinux and then chair of the board, announced he would be stepping down to allow AlmaLinux to continue on as a community-lead operating system,[16]and the board chose benny Vasquez as the new chair.[17]

On December 7, 2022, it was announced thatCERNandFermilabwould be providing AlmaLinux as the standard operating system for their experiments.[18]

3 weeks after June 21, 2023, Red Hat's announcement that new restrictions were put on their code,[19]Alma replied in a blog post that "the AlmaLinux OS Foundation board today has decided to drop the aim to be 1:1 with RHEL. AlmaLinux OS will instead aim to be binary compatible with RHEL".[20]

In September of 2023 the Foundation announced they would be expanding the board,[21]and in December of 2023 the AlmaLinux OS Foundation held their second election and announced Alejandro Iribarren ofCERNand Jun Yoshida ofCybertrust Japanwould be joining the board.[22]

Project ELevate[edit]

In September of 2021, the AlmaLinux project announce a tool called ELevate that would allow in-place upgrades between major versions of enterprise linux distributions.[23]"ELevate is developed in a distribution agnostic way and is built as a tool for the whole ecosystem, not just AlmaLinux. ELevate supports migrating to/from other distributions and is open for all to contribute to and enhance."[24]In January of 2024 they expanded the tool to include support for additional repos,[25]and in April of 2024 they added support for upgrading from CentOS 6 to CentOS 7, allowing some to upgrade in-place from CentOS 6 through an enterprise linux version 9 distribution of their choice.[26]

Build system[edit]

A diagram of the AlmaLinux Build System (ALBS)

The AlmaLinux Build System, commonly shortened to "ALBS", is thebuild systemof AlmaLinux. It was first used to release version 8.6 (Sky Tiger), and has the capability of automating builds for thex86-64,AArch64,ppc64,andS390xarchitectures.The ALBS consists of five components: theGitService, Release System, Sign Server, Test System, Build Node. Each component is governed by an overarching component known as the "Master Service", which is intended to be controlled via its ownAPI.

Git Service[edit]

AlmaLinux's source code is directly sourced fromGitcode repositoriesofsoftware packagesthat comprise Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Using a "listener" that monitors changes to existing repositories or additions of new repositories, the AlmaLinux Git Service pulls source code to its own publicly-availableGiteaserver instance. This public server's web interface also provides a view ofbuild pipelinesfor each package. In addition, the service exposes anAPIthat allows repositories to be directly consumed by the rest of ALBS.

Build Node[edit]

Corresponding with the Master Service, the Build Node's purpose is to perform the compilation of source code stored in the Git repositories to createRPM packagesthat can later be used as part of the distribution installation process. Asartifactsof the build process, these pieces have a dedicated storage from which they can be further processed.

Test System[edit]

The AlmaLinux Test System (ALTS) tests RPM packages that exist as build artifacts. Usingcontainerizationtechnology, packages are given dedicated environments for whichtest suitescan be exercised.

Release System and Sign Server[edit]

In order to ensure integrity, each software package that is released for the AlmaLinux distribution isdigitally-signedusing thePretty Good Privacy(PGP) cryptographic algorithm. The Sign Server simply takes artifacts created from the Build Node, signs them, and returns them back to artifact storage. From there, the Release System can upload them to release repositories.

Releases[edit]

AlmaLinux version Codename Architectures RHEL base Kernel AlmaLinux release date RHEL release date Delay (days)
Old version, no longer maintained:8.3 Purple Manul x86-64 8.3 4.18.0-240 2021-03-30[2] 2020-11-03[27] 147 / 110[note 1]
Old version, no longer maintained:8.4 Electric Cheetah x86-64, ARM64 8.4 4.18.0-305 2021-05-26[28] 2021-05-18[27] 8
Old version, no longer maintained:8.5 Arctic Sphynx x86-64, ARM64, ppc64le 8.5 4.18.0-348 2021-11-12,[29]2022-02-25[30] 2021-11-09[27] 3
Old version, no longer maintained:8.6 Sky Tiger x86-64, ARM64, ppc64le, s390x 8.6 4.18.0-372 2022-05-12[31] 2022-05-10[27] 2
Old version, no longer maintained:8.7 Stone Smilodon 8.7 4.18.0-425 2022-11-10[32] 2022-11-09[27] 1
Old version, no longer maintained:8.8 Sapphire Caracal 8.8 4.18.0-477 2023-05-18[33] 2023-05-16[27] 1
Old version, no longer maintained:8.9 Midnight Oncilla 8.9 4.18.0-513.5.1 2023-11-21[34] 2023-11-14[27] 7
Older version, yet still maintained:8.10 Cerulean Leopard 8.10 4.18.0-553 2024-05-28[35] 2024-05-22[27] 6
Old version, no longer maintained:9.0 Emerald Puma 9.0 5.14.0-70.13.1 2022-05-26[36] 2022-05-17[27] 9
Old version, no longer maintained:9.1 Lime Lynx 9.1 5.14.0-162.6.1 2022-11-17[37] 2022-11-15[27] 2
Old version, no longer maintained:9.2 Turquoise Kodkod 9.2 5.14.0-284.11.1 2023-05-10[38] 2023-05-10[27] 0
Old version, no longer maintained:9.3 Shamrock Pampas Cat 9.3 5.14.0-362.8.1 2023-11-13[39] 2023-11-07[27] 6
Current stable version:9.4 Seafoam Ocelot 9.4 5.14.0-427.13.1 2024-05-06[40] 2024-04-30[27] 6
Legend:
Old version
Older version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"FAQ | AlmaLinux Wiki".wiki.almalinux.org.Retrieved2021-06-20.
  2. ^abcVaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (March 30, 2021)."CloudLinux Launches AlmaLinux, CentOS Linux clone".ZDNet.RetrievedApril 22,2021.
  3. ^"Release Notes | AlmaLinux Wiki".wiki.almalinux.org.Retrieved2022-12-12.
  4. ^"FAQ/CentOSStream - CentOS Wiki".wiki.centos.org.Retrieved2021-06-20.
  5. ^Salter, Jim (2020-12-10)."CentOS Linux is dead—and Red Hat says Stream is" not a replacement "".Ars Technica.Retrieved2021-06-20.
  6. ^Janvier 2021, Par Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols | Jeudi 14 (14 January 2021)."CloudLinux prépare le remplacement de CentOS Linux: AlmaLinux".ZDNet France(in French).Retrieved2021-07-27.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^Seletskiy, Igor."AlmaLinux is born!!".blog.cloudlinux.com.Retrieved2024-05-07.
  8. ^"FAQ | AlmaLinux Wiki".2021-04-19. Archived fromthe originalon 2021-04-19.Retrieved2024-05-07.
  9. ^"CloudLinux Releases AlmaLinux Beta".www.businesswire.com.2021-02-01.Retrieved2024-02-19.
  10. ^AlmaLinux (January 26, 2021)."Frequently asked questions".RetrievedApril 22,2021.
  11. ^"AlmaLinux: Everything you need to know about the Linux operating system".IONOS Digitalguide.9 May 2022.Retrieved2022-05-10.
  12. ^"CloudLinux Establishes AlmaLinux Open Source Foundation, Launches First Stable Release".www.businesswire.com.2021-03-30.Retrieved2024-02-19.
  13. ^Larabel, Michael (June 20, 2022)."RHEL-Based AlmaLinux Announces" ALBS "Access For Its Public Build System".RetrievedMay 18,2023.
  14. ^"First AlmaLinux Community Election Coming Soon! - AlmaLinux OS Blog".AlmaLinux OS.9 August 2022.Retrieved2022-12-12.
  15. ^"First AlmaLinux Board Election Announces 7 New Seats - AlmaLinux OS Blog".AlmaLinux OS.20 September 2022.Retrieved2022-12-12.
  16. ^Seletskiy, Igor."Why I have decided to step down from the AlmaLinux OS Foundation Board".blog.cloudlinux.com.Retrieved2024-05-07.
  17. ^"Hi, I'm benny. How can I help?".AlmaLinux OS.2021-10-12.Retrieved2024-05-07.
  18. ^"LISTSERV 16.5 - SCIENTIFIC-LINUX-USERS Archives".listserv.fnal.gov.Retrieved2022-12-12.
  19. ^"Furthering the evolution of CentOS Stream".www.redhat.com.Retrieved2023-11-11.
  20. ^Vasquez, benny (2023-07-13)."The Future of AlmaLinux is Bright".AlmaLinux OS - Forever-Free Enterprise-Grade Operating System.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-07-13.Retrieved2024-02-12.
  21. ^"AlmaLinux OS Foundation Election - 2023".AlmaLinux OS.2023-09-14.Retrieved2024-05-07.
  22. ^"Meet our two new board members!".AlmaLinux OS.2023-12-19.Retrieved2024-05-07.
  23. ^"Announcing ELevate -- Migration between Major Versions (7.x to 8x) of RHEL Derivative Distributions".AlmaLinux OS.2021-10-19.Retrieved2024-05-07.
  24. ^"AlmaLinux OS - ELevate Your Distribution".2021-10-19. Archived fromthe originalon 2021-10-19.Retrieved2024-05-07.
  25. ^"ELevate Project Updates".AlmaLinux OS.2024-01-31.Retrieved2024-05-07.
  26. ^"Expanding ELevate support: CentOS 6 to CentOS 7 migrations".AlmaLinux OS.2024-04-25.Retrieved2024-05-07.
  27. ^abcdefghijklm"Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release Dates".Red Hat.17 May 2023.
  28. ^"AlmaLinux OS 8.4 Stable Now Available".almalinux.org.2021-05-26.Retrieved2021-05-28.
  29. ^"AlmaLinux OS 8.5 Stable Now Available".almalinux.org.2021-11-12.Retrieved2021-11-12.
  30. ^"AlmaLinux for PowerPC 8.5 Stable Now Available!".almalinux.org.2022-02-25.Retrieved2022-03-11.
  31. ^"AlmaLinux 8.6 Stable is Now Available!".almalinux.org.2022-05-12.Retrieved2022-05-13.
  32. ^"AlmaLinux 8.7 - Now Available".almalinux.org.2022-11-10.Retrieved2022-11-10.
  33. ^Jack Aboutboul (2023-05-18)."AlmaLinux 8.8 - Now Available".almalinux.org.Retrieved2023-05-18.
  34. ^Jack Aboutboul (2023-11-21)."Announcing AlmaLinux 8.9 Stable!".almalinux.org.Retrieved2023-12-19.
  35. ^Jack Aboutboul (2024-05-28)."General Availability of AlmaLinux 8.10 Stable!".almalinux.org.Retrieved2024-06-14.
  36. ^"AlmaLinux 9 Now Available!".almalinux.org.2022-05-26.Retrieved2022-05-26.
  37. ^"AlmaLinux 9.1 - Now Available".almalinux.org.2022-11-17.Retrieved2022-11-15.
  38. ^"AlmaLinux 9.2 - Now Available".almalinux.org.2023-05-10.Retrieved2023-05-11.
  39. ^"Announcing AlmaLinux 9.3 Stable!".almalinux.org.2023-11-13.Retrieved2023-11-13.
  40. ^"General Availability of AlmaLinux 9.4 Stable!".almalinux.org.2024-05-06.Retrieved2024-05-06.
  1. ^AlmaLinux was announced 10 December 2020(2020-12-10),first beta release was 53 days later.

External links[edit]

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