Rocky Linux 9 (Rocky9.8) Minimal and Hardened

This is a repackaged open source software product wherein additional charges apply for a pre-hardened, AWS-optimized image with verifiable evidence and maintenance. Based on Rocky Linux 9.8, this AMI is hardened, tuned for Amazon EC2 workloads, and equipped with a complete evidence pack and Software Bill of Materials (SBOM).

System Footprint & Reliability Optimization:

1. Minimal Footprint: Built on a minimal OS installation to reduce the attack surface and remove unnecessary packages.

2. Storage Layout: Configured with a streamlined 10 GB root (/) partition layout to minimize disk footprint while ensuring core system operation.

3. Validation Testing: Functional verification conducted on clean AMI launches through multi-round integration testing, verifying complete software lifecycle operations with SELinux enforcing.

AWS Network & Kernel Tuning:

1. Network Stack: TCP BBR congestion control with fair queueing, increased connection backlogs, buffer adjustments, and MTU probing enabled.

2. System Tuning: Red Hat tuned daemon active with a custom cloud profile, custom transparent hugepages (madvise), and modified memory/EBS writeback parameters.

3. EC2 Integration: Configured with NVMe I/O timeouts, Amazon Time Sync (chrony), IRQ balance daemon, and size-capped persistent journald logging.

Operational Tools

1. Preinstalled Tools: AWS SSM Session Manager enabled, CloudWatch Agent installed (disabled by default).

Security:

1. Security Hardening: SELinux enforcing with the targeted policy, ICMP redirects disabled, unused kernel modules blocked, and a shorter SSH login window.

2. Fully Patched at Release: Zero packages with a pending update at build time, verified. The complete CVE scan ships inside the image.

3. Comprehensive Evidence Pack: Every AMI includes an evidence pack located under /opt/optimization-report/:

   • Tuning_Parameters.txt: Every performance tuning parameter, each shown against the Rocky Linux default, with how to undo it.
   • Security_Parameters.txt: SELinux and every security setting, each shown against the Rocky Linux default, with how to undo it.
   • sbom.spdx.json: Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) in SPDX format generated from the RPM database.
   • cve_scan.txt / cve_scan_full.txt.gz: Vulnerability scan reports categorizing CVEs by upstream patch availability.
   • key_files.sha256: SHA-256 checksums of the key configuration files described in the reports, so the delivered state can be verified.
   • README.txt: Index file detailing artifact contents, administrative operational guidelines, and configuration defaults.

Maintenance:

1. Maintenance Specifications: Rebuilt and updated bi-weekly to monthly incorporating upstream Rocky Linux 9.8 security updates, updated artifact documentation per release, and administrative documentation.

About Rocky Linux 9

1. Rocky Linux 9 Foundation: Provides a robust enterprise-grade OS foundation structurally aligned with RHEL, ensuring high security and seamless ecosystem compatibility across AlmaLinux, CentOS Stream, and legacy CentOS deployments.

2. Full RHEL Compatibility: Built directly from RHEL 9 source code to deliver 100% binary compatibility with the Red Hat 9 ecosystem, featuring predictable update cadences and a maintenance lifecycle through 2032. Any application compiled, certified, or documented for RHEL 9 runs out-of-the-box without modification, offering a reliable, long-term foundation for production workloads.

3. Ideal Foundation for Modern Cloud Infrastructure: By starting with a bloat-free Rocky Linux 9 minimal installation, maximum CPU and memory are dedicated entirely to your own workloads rather than to unused background services. This makes it the perfect, conflict-free foundation for web and application hosting including Nginx, Apache HTTPD, HAProxy, Apache Tomcat, and WordPress, as well as data layers built on MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Redis, and Elasticsearch. It seamlessly integrates with modern runtimes and container platforms (Python, Node.js, OpenJDK, Docker, Kubernetes), and serves as a rock-solid backbone for DevOps, messaging, and observability stacks (Jenkins, HashiCorp Vault, RabbitMQ, MinIO, Keycloak, Grafana, Prometheus), ensuring your enterprise Linux infrastructure scales without limits.