Processors based on the ARM architecture are among the most widely used processors in the world and are increasingly being chosen for professional solutions. Therefore, one of the key features of a modern Enterprise Linux system is a support for this architecture.
We are pleased to announce that the beta version of EuroLinux 8.4 for ARM64 is now available and ready for download as an ISO. There is also a SHA1 checksum file available in the very same directory.
We are currently adapting our pipelines (e.g. AWS images, Docker images etc.) to support this architecture. We will also be increasing the number of publicly available EuroLinux images, including cloud images. It is worth mentioning that at the moment Vagrant has no official support for ARM64 and non-x86_64 architectures. Nevertheless, we will create an unofficial vagrant box for you.
Selected advantages and technological differentiators of EuroLinux
Open aarch64 buildroot
To date, none of the distributions derived from Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® sources (both RHEL itself and those that try to call themselves community-developed systems) have made their buildroot for ARM64 architecture open. This means that those people who are not in the project cannot fully enjoy the privilege of building their own software on a given system and this architecture. All of these systems provide repositories devoid of many packages. In particular the development packages, which contain (among other things) the headers necessary to develop your own software for Enterprise Linux platforms. EuroLinux is the only one Enterprise operating system vendor that has decided to make full buildroots available to the community. These contain all packages produced from source packages contained in the repositories.
NOTE: Packages and repositories that give access to full build trees are not officially supported. For example in the case of perl packages, they are broken by design because it is impossible to simultaneously make all build artifacts available and support 100% modularity.
Below is a sample repo file that allows you to use the full EuroLinux buildroot for the aarch64 architecture:
[certify-baseos-all]
name = EuroLinux certify BaseOS ALL REPO (NOT SUPPORTED)
baseurl=https://fbi.cdn.euro-linux.com/dist/eurolinux/server/8/aarch64/certify-BaseOS/all
enabled=0
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-eurolinux8
[certify-appstream-all]
name = EuroLinux certify AppStream ALL REPO (NOT SUPPORTED)
baseurl=https://fbi.cdn.euro-linux.com/dist/eurolinux/server/8/aarch64/certify-AppStream/all
enabled=0
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-eurolinux8
[certify-powertools-all]
name = EuroLinux certify PowerTools ALL REPO (NOT SUPPORTED)
baseurl=https://fbi.cdn.euro-linux.com/dist/eurolinux/server/8/aarch64/certify-PowerTools/all
enabled=0
gpgcheck=1The appropriate configurations for the mock package builder have been suggested in a pull-request on GitHub.
Full software version compatibility
EuroLinux is the only modular distribution on the market whose RPM packages are 1 to 1 compatible with RHEL® releases. This required the development and implementation of a build system that allows for local and repetitive compilation of packages.
Below is an example summary for the modular nginx package:
| System | Package name | Package version | Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL® | nginx | 1.14.1 | 9.module+el8.0.0+4108+af250afe |
| EuroLinux | nginx | 1.14.1 | 9.module+el8.0.0+4108+af250afe |
| Oracle® Linux | nginx | 1.14.1 | 9.0.1.module+el8.0.0+5347+9282027e |
Easy migration
EuroLinux offers a very simple migration from other Linux platforms: https://github.com/EuroLinux/eurolinux-migration-scripts. Running the migration script requires a single command. Distributions from which migration is supported include:
- CentOS
- RHEL®
- Oracle® Linux
- Rocky Linux
- AlmaLinux.
It is worth noting that this is the only migration that actually removes remnants of other systems, such as the kernel (including the kernel the system is running on - this solution requires a system reboot, as you cannot remove the kernel of the operating system the system is running on). This functionality has been implemented as one of the key aspects of migration in environments once supported by other vendors. This functionality mitigates the risk from other vendors who could claim fees resulting from unauthorized license provisions.
EuroLinux Gaia – build your own Linux
The proprietary EuroLinux Gaia tool introduces a new ground-breaking functionality for organisations. It is the ability to independently build (compile) the operating system from source files in the customer's own infrastructure. This is the highest possible level of system delivery and support. It guarantees the maximum level of security (trust) and allows customisation of the product. It also allows creation of your own dedicated distribution (fork).
As part of the solution, the customer receives:
- EuroLinux Gaia build system
- software comparison system with test oracle
- Battery Repositories, which are packages not included in the distribution, necessary for building it
- internal EuroLinux Gaia documentation for building the system
- direct support (on-site, telephone, e-mail) from a EuroLinux Release Engineer
- Golden Key subscription.
Open development with roadmap included
Listening to our community, partners and customers, we are posting our plans and roadmaps publicly. You can find the latest roadmap post for EuroLinux here.
Release Notes
Release Notes are available in open documentation: EuroLinux 8.4 Release Notes.
System installation and installation media
An installation of the system, along with information on where to download the installation media, is described in the open documentation: EuroLinux 8 Jump Start.
Reporting comments, bugs, and ideas
Reporting comments, bugs, and ideas is described in the documentation.
General Availability (GA) release of EuroLinux 8 for ARM
The release of EuroLinux 8.5 is fast approaching. Along with the version for the x86_64 architecture, a version 8.5 for ARM64 (aarch64) will be released. This will be the official GA version. The current beta version will automatically become the supported GA version after the system upgrade.