Sold by: Rinne Labs
Deployed on AWS
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This product has charges associated with it for a hardened, minimal RHEL 9.6 image: SELinux enforcing, root login disabled, key-only SSH, audit rules, PAM lockout and sysctl hardening, each verified on a booted instance. 10GB size (no LVM), UEFI/GPT, cloud-init, ENA and NVMe, RHUI/ELC.
Overview
This is a repackaged open source software product wherein additional charges apply for a hardened, minimal Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 image built and verified by Rinne Labs.
What you are paying for
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is assembled from free and open source software. The charge covers the hardened build: a security baseline applied to the image at build time, technical support and maintenance provided by Rinne Labs, and continued rebuilds carrying current security updates.
Hardening baseline
Every control below is applied at build time and verified by an automated assertion against a booted instance before publication. The image records the baseline it carries in a versioned marker at /etc/rinne-labs-hardening.
- SELinux enforcing, at runtime and persistently across reboots
- Root login over SSH disabled
- Key-only SSH: password and keyboard-interactive authentication refused
- Reduced SSH surface: X11 forwarding off, lowered MaxAuthTries and LoginGraceTime, empty passwords and host-based authentication refused
- Kernel network hardening via sysctl, confirmed live in the running kernel
- Audit rules loaded in the running kernel, auditd enabled at boot
- Account lockout via pam_faillock, with a bounded unlock interval and root exempt
- Password quality enforcement via pam_pwquality
- A default umask of 027 for login shells
- Login banners on console and network logins
- The default user's authorized_keys restricted to mode 0600
Key Features
- Built from the official Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 ISO, "Minimal Install" package group
- 10GB root volume, no LVM, for a fast boot and a small storage footprint
- UEFI/GPT boot with an XFS root filesystem
- cloud-init configured; root partition and filesystem grow to the volume size at first boot
- Elastic Network Adapter (ENA) and NVMe drivers present and verified
- AWS CLI preinstalled
- Distribution security updates applied at build time
- Registered with Red Hat Update Infrastructure (RHUI); no Red Hat subscription required
- Extended Life Cycle (ELC, formerly EUS) updates through RHUI, release pinned to 9.6
Ideal For
- Apache HTTP Server and NGINX web and reverse-proxy tiers
- PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB and MongoDB database hosts
- Jenkins, GitLab CI and self-hosted GitHub Actions runners
- Terraform, OpenTofu and Ansible control nodes
- Docker and Podman container hosts, and Kubernetes worker nodes
- Auto Scaling groups and immutable golden-image fleets
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I connect? SSH in as ec2-user with the key pair you chose at launch: ssh -i your-key.pem ec2-user@your-instance. Password login is disabled and root may not log in over SSH; run sudo -i for a root shell.
Do I need a subscription? No. The image is registered with Red Hat Update Infrastructure and receives updates through AWS without a Red Hat subscription.
Will the version change? No. This listing stays on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 and is rebuilt only for security updates. To follow 9.x as it moves, use the rolling Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 listing.
Who maintains this image? Rinne Labs. Nothing is published until it passes the full assertion suite on a booted instance.
Why Rinne Labs
- Every image comes out of the same reproducible, fully automated build pipeline, starting from the distribution's official ISO.
- Every image is validated by an automated assertion suite against a booted instance, covering the hardening baseline, the cloud drivers, the repositories and the applied updates. An image that fails an assertion is not published.
"Red Hat" and "Red Hat Enterprise Linux" are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. Rinne Labs is an independent publisher, not affiliated with or endorsed by Red Hat, Inc. This product repackages free and open source software; all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
THIS IMAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
Other Images by Rinne Labs
Highlights
- Hardened at build time and proven on a booted instance before publication: SELinux enforcing, root login over SSH disabled, key-only authentication, a reduced SSH surface, kernel network hardening, audit rules loaded in the running kernel, account lockout and password quality through PAM, a 027 umask and login banners. Every control carries an automated assertion that must pass before the image ships, and the image records its baseline at /etc/rinne-labs-hardening.
- Minimal by construction: built from the official Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 ISO using only the "Minimal Install" package group, on a 10GB root volume with no LVM, UEFI/GPT boot and an XFS root filesystem. Fewer packages means a smaller attack surface, quicker launches for auto-scaling groups, and lower EBS cost on every instance you run.
- Ready for AWS from first boot: cloud-init expands the root partition and filesystem to the volume size you launch with, the Elastic Network Adapter (ENA) and NVMe drivers are present and verified, and the AWS CLI is preinstalled. Red Hat Update Infrastructure is configured, so package updates need no Red Hat subscription, with Extended Life Cycle (ELC, formerly EUS) updates enabled.
Details
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Delivery method
Delivery option
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Latest version
Operating system
Rhel 9.6
Deployed on AWS
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Pricing
Free trial
Try this product free for 14 days according to the free trial terms set by the vendor. Usage-based pricing is in effect for usage beyond the free trial terms. Your free trial gets automatically converted to a paid subscription when the trial ends, but may be canceled any time before that.
Pricing is based on actual usage, with charges varying according to how much you consume. Subscriptions have no end date and may be canceled any time. Alternatively, you can pay upfront for a contract, which typically covers your anticipated usage for the contract duration. Any usage beyond contract will incur additional usage-based costs.
Additional AWS infrastructure costs may apply. Use the AWS Pricing Calculator to estimate your infrastructure costs.
If you are an AWS Free Tier customer with a free plan, you are eligible to subscribe to this offer. You can use free credits to cover the cost of eligible AWS infrastructure. See AWS Free Tier for more details. If you created an AWS account before July 15th, 2025, and qualify for the Legacy AWS Free Tier, Amazon EC2 charges for Micro instances are free for up to 750 hours per month. See Legacy AWS Free Tier for more details.
Dimension | Cost/hour |
|---|---|
t2.xlarge Recommended | $0.20 |
t3.micro | $0.05 |
c6in.2xlarge | $0.40 |
c7a.metal-48xl | $6.00 |
d3en.2xlarge | $0.40 |
m5dn.8xlarge | $1.60 |
c5d.large | $0.10 |
c5d.xlarge | $0.20 |
m6a.2xlarge | $0.40 |
m5dn.xlarge | $0.20 |
Dimensions summary
You pay by the hour for this hardened, minimal Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 image. Pricing is usage-based, so you are billed only for the hours each instance runs. Every dimension maps to a specific AWS EC2 instance type, from small general-purpose sizes up to large memory, compute, storage, and accelerated-computing machines. The hourly software rate changes with the instance type you select, generally rising as the instance offers more CPU, memory, or specialized hardware. You run separate AWS compute charges alongside the software fee. The RHEL image includes repository access to stay updated at no extra cost.
Top-of-mind questions for buyers
Each hourly unit covers one running EC2 instance of the type you select. The software fee meters per instance-hour. If you run several instances, each one accrues its own hourly software charge. Billing follows the instance type, so larger machines carry a different rate than smaller ones.
The software fee meters running hours only. A fully stopped instance does not accrue the hourly software charge. You may still pay underlying AWS storage fees for the attached volume while the instance is stopped. Charges resume once you start the instance again.
The image includes repository access, called RHUI, configured to keep the running system updated at no added cost. Updates are part of the hourly fee. You pay the software rate plus separate AWS compute and storage charges, which bill independently on the same invoice.
www.rinne-labs.com
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Vendor refund policy
When paid hourly, the instance can be terminated at anytime to stop incurring charges and no refund is available. For the yearly subscribers, refund can be handled for the unused time
Legal
Vendor terms and conditions
Upon subscribing to this product, you must acknowledge and agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the vendor's End User License Agreement (EULA) .
Content disclaimer
Vendors are responsible for their product descriptions and other product content. AWS does not warrant that vendors' product descriptions or other product content are accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free.
Delivery details
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
An AMI is a virtual image that provides the information required to launch an instance. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances are virtual servers on which you can run your applications and workloads, offering varying combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking resources. You can launch as many instances from as many different AMIs as you need.
Version release notes
Security update
Kernel version: 5.14.0-570.149.1.el9_6.x86_64
Package changes:
| Old Package & Version | New Package & Version |
|---|---|
| acl.x86_64 2.3.1-4.el9 | acl.x86_64 2.4.0-0.el9_6.1 |
| firewalld-filesystem.noarch 1.3.4-15.el9_6 | firewalld-filesystem.noarch 1.3.4-15.el9_6.1 |
| firewalld.noarch 1.3.4-15.el9_6 | firewalld.noarch 1.3.4-15.el9_6.1 |
| glib2.x86_64 2.68.4-16.el9_6.7 | glib2.x86_64 2.68.4-16.el9_6.8 |
| kernel-core.x86_64 5.14.0-570.140.1.el9_6 | kernel-core.x86_64 5.14.0-570.149.1.el9_6 |
| kernel-modules-core.x86_64 5.14.0-570.140.1.el9_6 | kernel-modules-core.x86_64 5.14.0-570.149.1.el9_6 |
| kernel-modules.x86_64 5.14.0-570.140.1.el9_6 | kernel-modules.x86_64 5.14.0-570.149.1.el9_6 |
| kernel-tools-libs.x86_64 5.14.0-570.140.1.el9_6 | kernel-tools-libs.x86_64 5.14.0-570.149.1.el9_6 |
| kernel-tools.x86_64 5.14.0-570.140.1.el9_6 | kernel-tools.x86_64 5.14.0-570.149.1.el9_6 |
| libacl.x86_64 2.3.1-4.el9 | libacl.x86_64 2.4.0-0.el9_6.1 |
| libblkid.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9 | libblkid.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9_6.1 |
| libfdisk.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9 | libfdisk.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9_6.1 |
| libmount.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9 | libmount.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9_6.1 |
| libsmartcols.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9 | libsmartcols.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9_6.1 |
| libuuid.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9 | libuuid.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9_6.1 |
| libxml2.x86_64 2.9.13-12.el9_6.2 | libxml2.x86_64 2.9.13-12.el9_6.3 |
| openssh-clients.x86_64 8.7p1-45.el9_6.4 | openssh-clients.x86_64 8.7p1-45.el9_6.5 |
| openssh-server.x86_64 8.7p1-45.el9_6.4 | openssh-server.x86_64 8.7p1-45.el9_6.5 |
| openssh.x86_64 8.7p1-45.el9_6.4 | openssh.x86_64 8.7p1-45.el9_6.5 |
| openssl-libs.x86_64 1:3.2.2-7.el9_6.2 | openssl-libs.x86_64 1:3.2.2-7.el9_6.4 |
| openssl.x86_64 1:3.2.2-7.el9_6.2 | openssl.x86_64 1:3.2.2-7.el9_6.4 |
| pcre2-syntax.noarch 10.40-6.el9 | pcre2-syntax.noarch 10.40-6.el9_6.1 |
| pcre2.x86_64 10.40-6.el9 | pcre2.x86_64 10.40-6.el9_6.1 |
| python3-firewall.noarch 1.3.4-15.el9_6 | python3-firewall.noarch 1.3.4-15.el9_6.1 |
| python3-libs.x86_64 3.9.21-2.el9_6.6 | python3-libs.x86_64 3.9.21-2.el9_6.7 |
| python3.x86_64 3.9.21-2.el9_6.6 | python3.x86_64 3.9.21-2.el9_6.7 |
| tzdata.noarch 2026c-1.el9_6 | tzdata.noarch 2026e-1.el9_6 |
| util-linux-core.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9 | util-linux-core.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9_6.1 |
| util-linux.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9 | util-linux.x86_64 2.37.4-21.el9_6.1 |
| vim-minimal.x86_64 2:8.2.2637-22.el9_6.3 | vim-minimal.x86_64 2:8.2.2637-22.el9_6.4 |
Additional details
Usage instructions
To connect to the VM:
- Use SSH to connect
- Username provisioned inside is: 'ec2-user'
- Use the SSH key provided at the launch of the instance
- Run 'sudo su -' to get a root prompt
More info:
- Login with SSH
- Login from Windows
- Instance status verification section in the AWS Documentation
Check the health and functionality of the virtual machine you have just launched:
- Go to your Amazon EC2 console and ensure you are in the correct region
- Select 'Instances' from the left menu and click on the newly launched instance
- Click on the 'Status and Alarms' tab at the bottom of the page to check all parameters are green
Support
Vendor support
For support, feedback and customisations, please reach out at support@rinne-labs.com or visit <www.rinne-labs.com >
AWS infrastructure support
AWS Support is a one-on-one, fast-response support channel that is staffed 24x7x365 with experienced and technical support engineers. The service helps customers of all sizes and technical abilities to successfully utilize the products and features provided by Amazon Web Services.
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