Rocky Linux 8 - The replacement for CentOS 8

Rocky Linux is an open source project focussed on creating a free of charge and reliable Alternative to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to offer.

It is based on the Source code from CentOS 8 and was founded by the former President and CEO of CentOS, Gregory Kurtzer, was launched.

The background to the creation of Rocky Linux was that Red Hat, the company behind RHEL, has decided to discontinue support for CentOS 8.

This has the consequence that Userswhich are currently still CentOS 8 on their servers, No security updates more and so forced are, to the Expensive enterprise solution from Red Hat or to switch to another distribution to migrate.

Rocky Linux offers the same look & feel like Red Hatbut is predominantly community-based supported.

The migration to Rocky 8

The easiest way to migrate to Rocky Linux 8 is to use the tool published by Rocky Linux "migrate2rocky" used.
Link to the documentation: https://docs.rockylinux.org/guides/migrate2rocky/

This tool is basically a Bash scriptwhich was generously provided by Rocky Linux co-developed has been developed to Migration from old CentOS 8 distributions to Rocky Linux 8 Simplify.

The script Automates all steps of the migration. So it leads automatically an upgrade of all repositories to those of Rocky Linux. It replaces all packages that are no longer supported and updates the remaining ones. Last but not least, the Kernel replaced by this one from Rocky Linux and the old unsupported kernel versions deleted.

Please note that migrating from one distribution to another may lead to incompatibilities. This applies in particular when using third-party manufacturer packages. It is therefore recommended to test the system thoroughly after the upgrade to ensure that everything is working properly.

Here are the steps you need to take to perform the migration:

1. Back up your dataBefore you start the migration, you should definitely create a backup of your data or, in the case of a VM, a snapshot to ensure that you do not lose any important data or that the systems can be restored if the migration is cancelled.
2. Preparation of migrate2rocky: You can use the tool migrate2rocky with the following CURL command and download it by executing chmod +x then make it executable for your Linux system:

# curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RockyLinux/migrate2rocky/main/migrate2rocky -o /usr/local/bin/migrate2rocky
# chmod +x /usr/local/bin/migrate2rocky

3. Executing the migration process: To start the migration migrate2rocky on your CentOS 8 system as shown below. Important to mention: the # symbolises that we execute our commands as root. If you are not generally logged in as root, please use the following command to start the migration sudo ./migrate2rocky.
   Once the migration process is complete, the Linux system is automatically rebooted.

# ./migrate2rocky

4. First update after the migration: After the migration and the first boot, it is recommended to restart the system using
   # dnf update -y to update and again to reboot. If this procedure runs without problems, everything should be fine with the Linux system itself.
5. Checking the servicesAfter the reboot, check all important services on your system to ensure that all applications, such as an Apache web server, MySQL, PHP, etc., are working properly. are working properly.

Why not go straight to Red Hat?

A Advantage from Rocky Linux compared to Red Hat is that it free of charge is and no Licence fees requires. It also offers a longer support period than Red Hat, which makes it more attractive for companies planning their IT infrastructure for the long term.

A Disadvantage from Rocky Linux is that it may not offer as much enterprise support out-of-the-box as Red Hat (manufacturer offers). If there are no Linux experts employed in-house who can solve any problems that may arise, it will be difficult.

Conclusion

Overall offers Rocky Linux an excellent option for users who are forced to switch from CentOS 8 migrate away. Support for your services can thus continue seamlessly in most cases, without having to switch to expensive enterprise solutions to have to.

If the worst comes to the worst, Swissmakers GmbH can also help you at any time with all your Linux-related concerns. Rocky Linux, Red Hat, security, migrations and hardening.