Rocky Linux 9.1 Arrives with New Capabilities and Features

Popular replacement for CentOS continues to gain users as distribution matures and community releases consistent, stable updates.

RENO, NEV. NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Rocky Linux version 9.1 is now available. Major changes include the availability of Keylime, a remote boot attestation and runtime integrity management solution using Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs). Additionally, 9.1 introduces the first module streams including: node.js 18, php:8.1, maven:3.8 and ruby:3.1. New compiler toolset versions include GCC 12, LLVM 14.0.6, Rust 1.62, and Go 1.18.

The Rocky Linux Cloud Special Interest Group (SIG) produced a variety of different cloud and container images, including new variants of the GenericCloud, EC2, and Azure images which utilize Logical Volume Manager (LVM) rather than traditional partitioning. These new image variants join the existing line up of images for Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Platform, and Google Cloud Platform, as well as generic (OpenStack) and container images for all four primary architectures: x86_64, aarch64, ppc64le, and s390x. You’re invited to get involved with the Cloud SIG by joining them on Mattermost.

Current Rocky Linux 9 users can upgrade to 9.1 via dnf update or via PackageKit and its interfaces (GNOME software, etc). Users of other Enterprise Linux 9 distributions can upgrade and convert to Rocky Linux 9.1 via the migrate2rocky conversion script. Note that upgrading from Enterprise Linux 8 to Enterprise Linux 9 is not supported.

Rocky Linux releases are put through thorough testing to ensure correctness and stability. Testing consists of hundreds of manual and automated checks covering all manner of environments and configurations. Rocky Linux 9.1 was subjected to over nine days of testing before receiving the team’s approval. Testing logs, discussion, and the release checklist can be viewed here. Anyone interested in contributing to the Rocky Linux upstream process can join the team on chat.rockylinux.org. Other ways to participate include the forums, IRC on Libera.Chat, Reddit, and RESF mailing lists.

Release Acknowledgements

The following community members, in particular, are acknowledged for their contributions to this release: Al Bowles, Alan Marshall, Brian Clemens, Chris Stackpole, David Roth, Ezequiel Bruni, Ian Walker, Louis Abel, Lukas Magauer, Mustafa Gezen, Neil Hanlon, Rich Alloway, Sherif Nagy, Skip Grube, Steven Spencer, Taylor Goodwill and Trevor Cooper. Additional thanks are extended to project sponsors and partners who provide the resources to build, test and produce each version of Rocky Linux. Additional appreciation is offered for those involved in the upstream development work in Fedora Linux, the curation efforts in CentOS Stream and the many developers and projects from which these distributions are built.

About Rocky Linux

Rocky Linux is an open source enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux®. It was created by one of the original CentOS founders, Gregory Kurtzer, to achieve the original goals of CentOS as a production-ready downstream version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It is hosted by the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF). Rocky Linux uses only open source tools to deliver a completely reproducible operating system ensuring there is no repeat of the CentOS end-of-life issues.

The RESF does not spend donations or sponsorship funds on marketing, so this news release is sponsored by CIQ. CIQ is the founding support and services partner of Rocky Linux and drives software infrastructure optimizations for enterprise, cloud, hyperscale and HPC.