AlmaLinux 8 Minimal (Alma Linux 8) | Support by ProComputers

AlmaLinux  serves as a replacement for us; initially, we were using CentOS  because we had a couple of Red Hat servers as well, but Red Hat operates on a licensing model, whereas CentOS  was a free open source component. When CentOS was discontinued, we moved to a different solution, but we believed AlmaLinux could be the right replacement. We have a couple of use cases for AlmaLinux. On AWS , we have a couple of EC2  instances running AlmaLinux, which we mostly use for application servers. We host applications such as Apache and NGINX  and similar components. I can confirm that for one of our Kubernetes  worker nodes, we also used AlmaLinux, but not for all, only for one or two worker nodes to conduct some research and development.

We have a couple of static websites running on AlmaLinux, mostly for our own Wikipedia-like content and to host knowledge-based articles and internal company, team, and project information. We have Apache servers running on top of AlmaLinux, and those Apache servers connect with databases. Those databases come directly from Amazon RDS . That is our main use case. Another use case is the Kubernetes  worker node. We have a custom Kubernetes deployment on AWS , not the Amazon-provided Kubernetes. In that custom Kubernetes solution, we have deployed AlmaLinux as the operating system for the worker nodes. This also proves helpful, as we have containers, pods, and other services running on top of the worker nodes.

We have used AlmaLinux for database servers, but that did not work as well because we need good scalability and reliability. We conducted a small proof of concept with that, and if the scale is very low, then it is good. However, if we need high scalability, then we will definitely have to switch and deal with some other database solutions. I would say this is also good for databases.

AlmaLinux has the similar features that we had with CentOS, most of which it provides. It provides an enterprise-ready operating system without any subscription and cost. It has long support from the community and from the vendor itself. I would say this is an enterprise-ready solution, meaning it is an enterprise-grade operating system that we can directly use in our environment to host applications, to host databases, or for whatever use cases we want. This means it is not only for lower environments like development and non-production; this is a production-ready system. We have a couple of servers running in our production environment using AlmaLinux. These are the main benefits I can think of. We have good documentation and, as it is open source, we have good community support as well.

There is plenty of documentation available with AlmaLinux. Initially, when we were dealing with packages and installing and updating them, we were having some dependency issues. At that time, when we went through the documentation provided by AlmaLinux, those documents were really helpful. We learned about dependencies, repositories, upgrade paths, and upgrade channels. That really helped. The documentation is really good. I do not feel any issues with that. AlmaLinux is enterprise-ready, so it is reliable because we have huge package availability, the RPMs and packages that we usually install.

AlmaLinux has the similar capabilities that we have with CentOS.

As of now, I do not see any challenges or any issues with this. The only thing is that this is community-driven. We do not have that enterprise type of support, but that is what we can expect from a free or open source product.

I have been using AlmaLinux  for the last year.

I think we have covered everything, so there are no new comments.

As I already mentioned, AlmaLinux is an enterprise-ready server, so it is really scalable. This depends on how you have set up AlmaLinux in your environment. When I talk about a Kubernetes cluster or any cluster deployed using AlmaLinux, we can have multiple instances running and then it is really scalable. We can scale in, scale out, horizontally, and vertically depending on the way we want. AlmaLinux is really scalable and is a stable one.

Initially, we were using CentOS, and then when the CentOS support and new releases were discontinued, we thought that we would have to stick with some vendor licensing model and go with the enterprise product which comes with licensing and cost. Then we heard of AlmaLinux and we tried and tested it, and it really helped us save costs. Another point I would like to highlight is that it is AWS compatible. This means on AWS or any other cloud platform, we can directly deploy it as an instance, and this is also fully supported. It is available in the marketplace and it is stable. We have stable releases and community support. I would say this is also beginner-friendly. If someone who is completely new to the Linux environment comes across it, it is a beginner-friendly solution.

I do not have any numbers because earlier we were using CentOS, and then we were supposed to get some paid versions like Red Hat Linux and some other solutions. Thanks to AlmaLinux, that cost part got saved. We do not need to pay anything there. It is completely free, I would say, open source.

For the project where we use AlmaLinux, it is a kind of hybrid. We have AlmaLinux deployed as an EC2  instance on AWS and some of our on-premises virtual machines. It is a kind of hybrid deployment.

AlmaLinux is an open source one, so we have community support. In the community, there are multiple communities coming from Red Hat and some different open source communities we have. This is really good. There was good support from the community.

AlmaLinux is an open source one, so I think there is no licensing or cost involved with this. The setup part was quite easy. As I already mentioned, it is beginner-friendly. We did the installation, we did the configuration, we configured the repositories and the network settings. It was quite straightforward.

I would say it has saved our time because when the CentOS part was discontinued, we had to explore a couple of other products, and AlmaLinux was the first one in the list. We tried exploring that, and when we got all the features in one place, we did not have to spend separate or much time exploring other components. The other options are vendor-locked or license-based, which we were not expecting for the current project. We were looking for an open source and free solution. AlmaLinux fits in our requirement.

We considered Red Hat Enterprise Linux . That is also good, stable, and a fully enterprise-ready operating system. However, the only challenge we had was the cost because that is a license model. According to our current project budget, we did not have that much budget allocation. We went with AlmaLinux because earlier we were using CentOS, so we thought it would be good to have a similar solution.

I rate AlmaLinux ten out of ten. It is a lifesaver for me and for my project. It has the same features which I was expecting from an operating system coming from open source communities. AlmaLinux has everything similar to CentOS. If you have already experienced or already used CentOS for any of your workloads, solutions, projects, or environments, I would recommend going with AlmaLinux because it has been discontinued now. AlmaLinux provides the similar solution that we had with CentOS. It is really good to have AlmaLinux in our environment, and you should also give it a try. My overall rating for this product is ten out of ten.

AlmaLinux  is used as a DHCP server. I installed DNSmasq service on AlmaLinux  and use it for many tasks and services such as Kaspersky EDR .

AlmaLinux is easy to use as a VM and with containers.

We saved approximately 70% of our budget with AlmaLinux, and the system is stable and reliable.

AlmaLinux has a firewall that performs well for security. AlmaLinux is a reliable and stable version of Linux. It is fast and does not require significant resources when using AlmaLinux as a VM and with containers.

AlmaLinux could be improved by enhancing security and increasing speed.

I have used AlmaLinux for five years.

AlmaLinux is a reliable and stable version of Linux. At this time, AlmaLinux is performing well. AlmaLinux is stable and reliable.

AlmaLinux is easy to scale in terms of resources and capacities.

I did not switch to AlmaLinux from a different solution.

We saved approximately 70% of our budget with AlmaLinux, and the system is stable and reliable.

The billing with AlmaLinux is very low, and the manager is very satisfied.

I did not evaluate other options before choosing AlmaLinux.

The experience with AlmaLinux pricing, setup cost, and licensing was good. I suggest others use AlmaLinux and work with it.

My main use case for AlmaLinux  involves helping customers migrate from CentOS  to AlmaLinux  8 and now AlmaLinux 9 as well. Most of the customers are from CentOS , and I assist them with the traditional migration and using the in-place OS upgrade workflow as well.

Regarding my main use case for AlmaLinux, we did not face any issues during the migration. Most of the customers used traditional migration, which means setting up a new server with AlmaLinux 8, and then our migration team helped them migrate from CentOS 7 to AlmaLinux. It was an easy process because the in-place OS upgrade was taking longer to get upgraded to AlmaLinux, nearly thirty to forty-five days. That was not workable for a couple of customers. That is why we introduced traditional migration, where we set up a new server with AlmaLinux. It was easy, and for about a month, customers had to pay for both servers, but all their domains, files, databases, and everything would be migrated from CentOS to AlmaLinux. We did not face any issues, especially in AlmaLinux. It was great, and most customers were asking for an upgrade since CentOS was end of life.

During the switching to AlmaLinux, the traditional migration with IP swap had very little downtime, and even in-place OS upgrades had a downtime of about three to four hours because customers do not need to buy a new server; we upgrade the OS on the existing server from CentOS to AlmaLinux. We clone their server to a temporary server for testing the upgrade and their website files before applying the same on the production server. We inform our customers that there will be a three to four hour downtime. Traditional migration with the IP swap had very little downtime, and to minimize downtime, we introduced that IP swap along with the traditional migration. However, most customers were not willing to pay for the second server during migration. After we introduced in-place OS upgrades, most customers chose that option instead, even though the downtime was three to four hours. We scheduled downtime during off-peak hours, and everything went well.

AlmaLinux offers several valuable features that I appreciate. The best features include the updated PHP versions available from AlmaLinux. Most of our customers use WordPress websites, which always show a kind of security vulnerability notification saying that their PHP version is out of date. Most customers were asking to upgrade their PHP version, which was not available in CentOS 7. They prefer the latest PHP versions, and we guide them with AlmaLinux. Overall, AlmaLinux 8 is really great, and version 9 is even better. The next better version always has better performance and options. Since CentOS reached end of life, ninety percent of customers have chosen AlmaLinux rather than Ubuntu .

Regarding the features of AlmaLinux, we normally work on fully managed servers. Most of the customers choose cPanel  and WHM. I do not see much compatibility issue working on cPanel  and WHM in AlmaLinux 8 compared to CentOS. Overall, the performance was really great, the options were excellent, and all services were up to date in AlmaLinux, which was not the case in CentOS. Regarding security, AlmaLinux is more secure than CentOS.

AlmaLinux has positively impacted my organization significantly. Most of our customers were on CentOS 7, and when CentOS announced it would reach end of life, they began to panic, asking what their next options were.

I wish host access control in AlmaLinux could be made easier the way it was in CentOS because host access control was not working as expected in AlmaLinux during the initial stages. Later, we implemented some other methods that began to work, but initially, it was not operational. Host access control in WHM with AlmaLinux is my concern. Apart from that, AlmaLinux is really good, easier as well, and I do not see much difference between CentOS and AlmaLinux.

Regarding improvements needed for AlmaLinux, the documentation available is great. A simple Google search yields related documents which help in our work. About the documentation, I would say eighty percent of it is available, so if there is a plan to improve, focusing on that remaining twenty percent would be beneficial. Additionally, I would prefer documentation available for AlmaLinux when cPanel WHM is installed on the server, including how to use the tools. If documentation for Plesk  or NodeWorx and SiteWorx is available, it would be very helpful for customers using AlmaLinux to navigate their servers.

I have been using AlmaLinux for the past two years.

Overall, AlmaLinux is really good. After CentOS, most customers panicked about what to do when their OS reached end of life. We introduced AlmaLinux, which is truly great regarding performance and efficiency. Everything looks very good in AlmaLinux. I believe people always look for more features and easier ways to handle servers, so any tools or improvements in the future would be beneficial. Overall, AlmaLinux is an excellent option.

My advice for others considering using AlmaLinux is to keep everything up to date, especially the OS, which is very important. I believe AlmaLinux is good until at least twenty twenty-seven or twenty twenty-nine. I give this product an overall rating of eight out of ten.