Rocky Linux fills the gap left by CentOS Linux's end-of-life in 2021. It is the community answer to enterprise Linux — RHEL-compatible, free forever, with a 10-year support lifecycle.
Mandatory Access Control is on from first boot. Every process and file has a security context label — the kernel enforces it before every access.
Compiled from the same source as Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Your RHEL-certified software, drivers, and SAS workloads run without modification.
Rocky 8 supported until 2029, Rocky 9 until 2032. No forced upgrades, no surprise end-of-life announcements mid-project.
Zone-based stateful packet filtering with a clean management interface. Replaces iptables complexity with readable, persistent rules.
Docker-compatible CLI without a daemon. Run containers as non-root users — significantly reducing attack surface for containerised workloads.
Install multiple versions of the same software (Python 3.9, 3.11; Node.js 18, 20) on the same system using DNF module streams.
Built-in SCAP tools let you scan your system against CIS Benchmarks and STIG profiles and auto-generate remediation scripts.
Modern network management with bond, bridge, VLAN, and team device support — configured declaratively via nmcli or nmtui.
Logical Volume Manager with XFS filesystem — supports online resize, snapshots, and thin provisioning out of the box.
System-wide cryptographic policy (DEFAULT, FUTURE, FIPS) — one command to enforce TLS 1.2+, disable SHA-1, and align all services.
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) adds thousands of community packages. CRB/PowerTools unlocks development headers and build tools.
Managed by the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF) — a non-profit with transparent governance, preventing any vendor lock-in.
How Rocky Linux compares to other enterprise Linux options as of 2025.
| Feature | Rocky Linux 9 | RHEL 9 | AlmaLinux 9 | Ubuntu 24 LTS | Debian 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $0 | $1,299+/yr | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| RHEL Compatible | ✔ 1:1 | ✔ Source | ✔ ABI | ✘ No | ✘ No |
| Support Lifecycle | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years | 5 (10 ESM) | 5 years |
| SELinux | ✔ Default | ✔ Default | ✔ Default | ✘ AppArmor | ✘ AppArmor |
| DNF / YUM | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ APT | ✘ APT |
| Podman Built-in | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ~Optional | ~Optional |
| FIPS 140 Mode | ✔ | ✔ Certified | ✔ | ~ | ~ |
| Commercial Support | 3rd-party | ✔ Official | ✔ Options | ✔ Canonical | ✔ LTS |
| Governance | Non-profit | Red Hat (IBM) | Non-profit | Canonical | Debian Project |
| EPEL Compatible | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
With CentOS 7 at EOL (June 2024) and CentOS 8 already gone since 2021, Rocky Linux is the recommended migration target. The migrate2rocky script handles in-place upgrades for most workloads.
We handle CentOS to Rocky Linux migrations — testing, migration script execution, post-migration validation, and full service restoration.