Overview
The CIS Hardened Image Level 1 on SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 is a pre-configured image built by the Center for Internet Security (CIS®) for use on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). It is a pre-configured, security-hardened image that aligns with the robust security recommendations, the CIS Benchmarks, making it easier for organizations to meet regulatory requirements.
Not only is this image pre-hardened to the CIS Benchmarks guidance, but it is also patched monthly in alignment with the updates from the software vendor.
Key Benefits
This image is hardened against the corresponding Level 1 profile which is intended to be practical and prudent, provide a clear security benefit, and not inhibit the utility of the technology beyond acceptable means. No packages are installed on or removed from this image outside of those already present on the base image or as recommended in alignment with the corresponding CIS Benchmark recommendations.
To demonstrate conformance to the CIS SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 Level 1 Benchmark, industry-recognized hardening guidance, each image includes an HTML report from CIS Configuration Assessment Tool (CIS-CAT® Pro). Each CIS Hardened Image contains the following files:
These reports are located in /home/CIS_Hardened_Reports.
For customized pricing options or private offers, reach out to us at cloudsecurity@cisecurity.org .
To learn more or access the corresponding CIS Benchmark, please visit https://www.cisecurity.org/cis-benchmarks or sign up for a free account on our community platform, CIS WorkBench, https://workbench.cisecurity.org/ .
Highlights
- Hardened according to a Level 1 CIS Benchmark that is developed in a consensus-based process and that is accepted by government, business, industry, and academia.
- Helps with compliance to PCI DSS, FedRAMP, DoD Cloud Computing SRG, FISMA, select NIST publications, and more.
- Pre-configured to align with industry best practices that are developed and supported by CIS, this image has hardened account and local policies, firewall configuration, and computer-based and user-based administrative templates.
Details
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Pricing
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Dimension | Cost/hour |
---|---|
t3.small Recommended | $0.022 |
t3.micro AWS Free Tier | $0.022 |
t2.micro AWS Free Tier | $0.02 |
r7a.8xlarge | $0.05 |
m6i.4xlarge | $0.035 |
r5dn.16xlarge | $0.06 |
m6idn.24xlarge | $0.06 |
x2iedn.4xlarge | $0.035 |
m5d.large | $0.022 |
hpc7a.96xlarge | $0.06 |
Vendor refund policy
Refunds through AWS are not available at this time. You will only be billed for actual time of instance use. As with all CIS security products, our aim is always 100 percent customer/member satisfaction.
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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
NA
Additional details
Usage instructions
Once the instance is running, connect using SSH. Use "ec2-user" as the username. Immediately apply latest security updates after launching the instance.
Support
Vendor support
Questions, feedback, and support accessing CIS-developed AMIs is provided by contacting
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.
Standard contract
Customer reviews
Has delivered expert training and enabled smooth migrations using automated deployment tools
What is our primary use case?
I also use SUSE Linux Enterprise to deliver training on SUSE Linux administration and Linux administration in general, teaching how to create users, partition the system, browse the file system, create symbolic links or hard links, and create VMs on AWS with the SUSE flavor.
How has it helped my organization?
For my team, there are more than 10 contracts signed for SUSE products; however, I don't have much insight about the global contracts signed or a summary since I do not occupy a management position.
What is most valuable?
The need to register a system for updates and support can complicate deployment in an isolated environment. SUSE Linux Enterprise is recognized for its stability and reliability in production environments, with YaST providing a centralized interface for managing system settings, updates, and services, making routine administration straightforward.
Performance is strong out of the box, and the system is optimized for enterprise workloads; nevertheless, the official repositories prioritize stability, so some newer or less common packages may not be immediately available. Advanced configuration may still require command line expertise, and while SUSE Linux Enterprise is designed for scalability with built-in support for high availability, clustering, and seamless integration with major cloud platforms, leveraging advanced features requires careful planning and expertise, and some management tools can introduce resource overhead, particularly on smaller systems.
What needs improvement?
SUSE has made progress with multi-Linux support, allowing organizations to manage and support not just SUSE systems but also other distributions such as Red Hat and CentOS ; continuing to expand these capabilities, especially for hybrid and multi-cloud environments, will help organizations manage diverse infrastructure more effectively.
Security is a top concern, and further strengthening default security policies, simplifying compliance management, and integrating advanced vulnerability management tools would be a valuable improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
How are customer service and support?
Initial support interaction may follow a scripted process before more complex issues are escalated to specialized engineers. The quality of support can vary depending on the region.
SUSE Linux Enterprise provides a stable, secure, and well-supported platform for enterprise workloads, with powerful management tools and robust support for clustering, cloud, and containers. The main challenges include the initial learning curve for SUSE-specific tools, the need for system registration, and limited availability of the latest packages in the official repositories. Customer support is really super.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before choosing SUSE Linux Enterprise, we evaluated other options; however, in our environment, particularly production and customer production environments, we prefer enterprise versions, and for Linux, it is either SUSE or Red Hat, leaving us with limited choices for deploying Linux in an enterprise setting.
What was our ROI?
What other advice do I have?
I advise others looking into using SUSE Linux Enterprise to clearly define their requirements, such as workload types, scalability needs, compliance standards, and integration with existing infrastructure before committing, as SUSE Linux Enterprise excels in regulated, mission-critical, and hybrid environments. They should also invest in learning SUSE tools and take advantage of vendor support.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Has provided robust support for critical application workloads and ensured uninterrupted availability
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for SUSE Linux Enterprise is for installing SAP clusters, HANA , on HANA systems, and creating LVMs and daily system admin tasks.
A specific example of how I use SUSE Linux Enterprise for SAP clusters or HANA systems is that we have installed the cluster on newly built SAP HANA servers, tested those clusters by stopping one server, and checked if HANA is operational on the other system. After this successful testing, we handed over the system to the SAP team.
How has it helped my organization?
SUSE Linux Enterprise has positively impacted my organization because it is a very robust flavor of Linux we are currently using for SAP systems. Since I'm more into Azure cloud, SAP has collaborated with Azure to configure SAP systems mainly on SUSE Linux, resulting in better performance compared to other flavors.
What is most valuable?
In my experience, the best features SUSE Linux Enterprise offers are that while all Linux systems are similar, SUSE is more robust with a different kind of commands, and the LVM is very easy to configure, along with simple disk scanning compared to other systems.
The YaST facility on SUSE Linux, which is the GUI provided, helps in my daily work by allowing us to check logs whenever we face logging issues, and for LVM, it enables us to scan the disk and add data to the file systems easily.
What needs improvement?
SUSE Linux Enterprise can be improved by having more documentation or logging systems available on the internet, as we face difficulties troubleshooting issues without sufficient resources.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SUSE Linux Enterprise for the last two and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SUSE Linux Enterprise is stable. When HANA is utilized by many applications, I notice that while utilization does increase, we have never faced lagging or server unresponsiveness. The servers work properly, provide alerts for high CPU and memory usage, but do not encounter CPU or memory issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Its scalability is quite good since we are using Azure, which allows us to easily scale up or down our resources as needed.
How are customer service and support?
Support for SUSE Linux Enterprise is good; we have logged several cases, and they have provided troubleshooting steps through email and calls, but real-time support when opening a case could be better.
The customer support is good; whenever we have opened a case, they have provided detailed explanations of the issues and resolutions.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have started our SAP HANA systems on SUSE Linux only, and based on experiences from other organizations, we decided it works very effectively, so we haven't considered other flavors.
How was the initial setup?
We deploy SUSE Linux Enterprise using public cloud, Azure, primarily, and all our SAP HANA systems are installed on SUSE Linux running on the public cloud, utilizing images provided by the Azure Marketplace .
What about the implementation team?
For these deployments, we use Azure as our cloud provider.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment by switching our clusters from on-prem to Azure public cloud, using our same Bring Your Own Licenses, which saved costs on licensing.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for SUSE Linux Enterprise is that while the licensing cost is a bit high, I believe it is justified due to the quality of service provided for SAP and heavy systems.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing SUSE Linux Enterprise, we did not evaluate other options.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate SUSE Linux Enterprise an eight out of ten because SUSE works really effectively for SAP systems, and since I am mainly working on these SAP servers to provide continuous support and availability, our clients are satisfied, with no extra downtime or performance issues.
My advice for others looking into using SUSE Linux Enterprise is to not have any doubts and start working on it, as installing your applications on SUSE will stabilize them compared to other Linux flavors, where issues such as kernel, memory, or CPU hung problems can arise which you won't see on SUSE Linux servers.
I think there are too many questions; it would be helpful to receive information ahead of time about the number of questions expected, as I hadn't anticipated the interview would take 13-14 minutes during my working day.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Stable OS supports SAP landscape but licensing changes required
What is our primary use case?
I use it for the corporate SAP landscape.
How has it helped my organization?
It provides a stable and reliable OS. I recommended it based on its stability and functionality.
What is most valuable?
It has a stable and reliable OS. I recommended it based on its stability and functionality.
What needs improvement?
The functionality is good, but the licensing subscription model needs improvement. The license we subscribed to should carry over within the same instance family. Why are we required to re-subscribe when upgrading within the same family? Why are we effectively paying double fees during an upgrade?
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for three years.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We chose this solution because it was recommended by our managed service provider and it is known to be a good OS for SAP.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are facing an issue with licensing usage. The subscription does not carry over within the same instance family, so upgrading an instance results in overlapping or double subscription fees.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not consider alternate solutions because it was highly recommended by the managed service vendor.
What other advice do I have?
We are facing an issue with licensing usage. The subscription does not carry over within the same instance family, so upgrading an instance results in overlapping or double subscription fees.
Clean user interface and efficient personal use pave the way for running essential applications
What is our primary use case?
I used SUSE Linux personally, not on an admin level or for advanced purposes, but for regular use. I would play around and experiment with different Linux distros, including SUSE Linux, Debian , and Fedora. I also attempted to use it for work purposes in a hospital setting, primarily to see if it could support applications like Teams and Outlook.
What is most valuable?
SUSE Linux had a clean user interface, which was a valuable feature for me. It allowed me to use the software manager differently compared to Ubuntu . Eventually, I was able to get essential applications like Teams and Outlook running on it. I primarily used it for personal desktop use, and it was solid for that.
What needs improvement?
The software management side was a bit difficult, especially compared to Ubuntu . The software manager was different, making it challenging to install certain applications.
Additionally, I encountered issues when setting it up on newer model laptops, possibly due to hardware incompatibility, such as the solid-state drive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used SUSE Linux over a number of years as part of my exploration of various Linux distributions.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SUSE Linux was stable for me. I did not experience any problems with its stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SUSE Linux was scalable to my needs. I did not encounter any issues with scalability.
How are customer service and support?
I did not reach out to customer service or tech support. I found the needed information easily on community forums and through online research.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used a variety of Linux distributions, including Debian , Fedora, and Ubuntu, but I did not use them specifically as a replacement for SUSE Linux.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. However, I encountered trouble when reclaiming space on the hard drive later on, which might have been an issue with the computer I used.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I used the open-source version, so there were no setup costs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I evaluated other Linux distributions like Fedora and Ubuntu. Fedora's ISO is small, but I found the system itself to be annoying after a while.
What other advice do I have?
I would not recommend SUSE Linux in environments where users are not tech-savvy, yet it is solid for workstations. SUSE Linux worked well on older model computers but not as effectively on newer models.
Overall, I would rate SUSE Linux a solid nine out of ten for my purposes.
Efficient IT management with crucial automatic updates but needs developer-friendly configuration
What is our primary use case?
We are working with SUSE Enterprise Edition.
How has it helped my organization?
It is good for IT teams and business efficiency. For maintainability and all, it is good.
What is most valuable?
The most important feature is the automatic kernel lifecycle subscription, which is critical for us because the server cannot go down once we start offering any services on the cluster.
What needs improvement?
Sometimes it is a bit of work for developers to change the configurations. Some kernels will not fit with some packages, and this aspect could be improved. Furthermore, the system's rigidity when updating packages and services needs improvement. Additionally, there should be more loosely bound functionalities to improve developer experience.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using SUSE Linux Enterprise for more than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SUSE Linux Enterprise is good for IT and maintainability. However, it can be rigid, especially with kernel and package compatibility.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Some kernel versions do not fit well with certain packages, creating compatibility issues that affect scalability.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support for IT and kernel-level OS issues is very good. However, it is less effective for development-level issues. The IT department handles technical support, and I cannot comment directly on its effectiveness.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are considering alternatives for our new machine learning infrastructure and have worked with Ubuntu in the past.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is slightly higher than expected, but it is manageable for our current project. For the upcoming projects, we are looking for cost-effective solutions.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We are considering Linux instead of SUSE and want to check some cost-effective measures, like Rocky Linux .
What other advice do I have?
For developers, some flexibility and reducing dependency on specific kernel versions would be better.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.