Introducing Amazon Linux 2

Posted on: Dec 13, 2017

Amazon Linux 2 is the next generation Amazon Linux operating system. It provides a high performance, stable, and secure execution environment for cloud and enterprise applications. Amazon Linux 2 will offer extended availability of software updates for the core operating system through 5 years of long-term support and provides access to the latest software packages through the Amazon Linux Extras repository.

Amazon Linux 2 is available as an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for use on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (AmazonEC2), and as a Docker container image for use in any Docker based environment, including Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS). It is also available as virtual machine images for VMware, Oracle VM VirtualBox, and Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization solutions for on-premises development and testing. Amazon Linux 2 provides a modern execution environment with LTS Kernel (4.9) tuned for optimal performance on Amazon Web Services (AWS), systemd support, and newer tooling (gcc 7.2.1, glibc 2.25, binutils 2.27). Additional software packages, including the newer versions of popular software packages such as Python, MariaDB, Node.js, are available for installation using the Amazon Linux Extras repository.

Amazon Linux 2 LTS Candidate is available in all public regions starting today. The LTS build will follow. Amazon Linux 2 is provided at no additional charge. Standard Amazon EC2 and AWS charges apply for running Amazon EC2 instances and other services.

Feedback on Amazon Linux 2 LTS Candidate can be provided through your designated AWS representative or Amazon Linux Discussion Forum. To learn more about Amazon Linux 2, including any limitations of LTS Candidate build, refer to the Amazon Linux webpage and frequently asked questions.