AlmaLinux 9.2 is now available, launched just one day after the release of RHEL 9.2. AlmaLinux is one of the two CentOS heirs alongside Rocky Linux. It produces a binary-compatible clone of Red Hat’s Linux distribution but without RHEL-specific packages with content like Red Hat logos. For the new version 9.2, updates primarily focus on security, tools for system administration, and the Linux kernel.
Python 3.11 contains a minor update that corrects some errors, Nginx is available in a revised version 1.22, while PostgreSQL is in version 15. The tool chain for building the distribution has been updated to GCC 11.3.1, the GNU C library 2.34, and Binutils 2.35.2. AlmaLinux takes its new kernel 5.14.0-284.11.1.el9_2 directly from RHEL. However, it has almost more in common with a current Linux 6.0 than with its original version due to Red Hat equipping the very old kernel with countless driver updates.
AlmaLinux 9.2 also benefits from a number of security updates. The new version of OpenSCAP is the central tool for detecting programming errors and errors in the configuration of services. SCAP automatically detects these depending on its own configuration. In AlmaLinux 9.2, it is in the updated version 1.3.7. Along with that, the SCAP Security Guide is also being updated to version 0.1.66. AlmaLinux also inherits a number of Rsyslog security improvements.
On top of the new distribution, the AlmaLinux developers have provided a new project – Project ELevate. The project enables updates from RHEL clones from CentOS 7 to higher major releases, allowing a CentOS 7 to first upgrade to AlmaLinux 8, EuroLinux 8, Oracle Linux 8, or Rocky Linux 8 before updating to the current major version 9 of the same RHEL clone. ELevate also offers an update to CentOS Stream as an option.
With version 9, ELevate currently only supports the update for AlmaLinux, EuroLinux, and RockyLinux. The developers are working on support for the update to CentOS Stream 9, and Oracle offers its own tool for Oracle Linux 9. Existing systems do not need to be reinstalled with ELevate, and the data stored on them is retained.
AlmaLinux is available in package form on the project servers. ISO packages for installing fresh systems are available on the project servers, and there is a list of all mirror servers, including 16 German locations, on mirrors.almalinux.org.
