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TuxCare BlogAlmaLinux is Now an Endorsed Linux Distribution in Azure
by Rohan Timalsina
November 13, 2024 - TuxCare expert team
Linux has emerged as the dominant operating system on Microsoft Azure, powering over 60% of customer workloads. This surge in Linux adoption underscores its increasing popularity and versatility in enterprises and cloud environments. To further support this trend, Microsoft recently announced its endorsement of AlmaLinux as an officially supported distribution on Azure.
Initially launched in response to the end-of-life of CentOS Linux, AlmaLinux has quickly established itself as a powerful choice for organizations seeking an enterprise-grade, stable, and secure Linux environment. This community-driven distribution maintains application binary compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), making it an attractive choice for CentOS users and others looking for a reliable alternative without licensing costs.
The Rise of AlmaLinux on Azure
AlmaLinux’s presence in the Azure Marketplace for over three years has enabled it to gain traction among Azure customers, becoming an increasingly popular option for those migrating from other distributions. Now, as an endorsed distribution, AlmaLinux joins the ranks of other well-regarded Linux systems in Azure, such as Ubuntu, Debian, Oracle Linux, and RHEL. The endorsement is a recognition of AlmaLinux’s strength in security, performance, and usability, providing Azure users with an option they can trust to run their mission-critical applications with confidence.
Key Features of AlmaLinux
Here’s why AlmaLinux is a valuable choice for Azure customers:
- Enterprise-Grade Performance: AlmaLinux is designed to provide enterprise-grade performance and is binary-compatible with RHEL, making it suitable for a wide range of applications.
- Long-Term Stability: The distribution’s commitment to stability ensures it remains a reliable choice, especially for businesses seeking alternatives to CentOS.
- Cost-Effective: AlmaLinux is a free and community-owned Linux distribution, reducing licensing costs while still offering robust features similar to other enterprise Linux distributions.
What Does an Azure Endorsement Mean?
Being an endorsed Linux distribution in Azure signifies that AlmaLinux has met specific criteria, including:
Market and Customer Demand: Azure recognizes the demand for AlmaLinux, with usage signals indicating strong interest from the market and customers who favor it as a trusted platform.
Contractual Agreement: Azure has established a formal contract with AlmaLinux, ensuring update cadences and timely remediation targets. This agreement is crucial for maintaining reliable service, particularly for organizations relying on frequent updates and patches to keep their systems secure.
Engineering Collaboration: A close engineering relationship between Microsoft and AlmaLinux enables efficient collaboration. This partnership ensures quick resolutions to potential issues, facilitates customer feedback, and enables new Azure feature integrations that keep AlmaLinux current and compatible with Azure’s evolving ecosystem.
Content Mirror in Azure: AlmaLinux’s content and infrastructure are mirrored across Azure’s regions, ensuring users can quickly and reliably access updates, software installations, and security patches. This feature enhances user experience by reducing latency and ensuring consistency.
Getting Started with AlmaLinux on Azure
AlmaLinux images are readily available on the Azure Marketplace, supporting both x64 and Arm64 architectures, including Microsoft’s latest Cobalt 100-based virtual machines. In addition to standard virtual machine deployments, specialized AlmaLinux images are available for high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, providing flexibility for demanding applications. Customers can also access AlmaLinux through Azure’s Community Gallery and the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
Conclusion
AlmaLinux’s status as an endorsed Linux distribution in Azure marks a significant step forward in its journey, solidifying its position as a trusted, enterprise-grade solution. With strong community backing, robust security features, and Azure’s endorsement, AlmaLinux is an excellent choice for organizations seeking a stable, cost-effective alternative to commercial distributions.
For enterprises looking to maximize stability and support for AlmaLinux, TuxCare offers comprehensive support solutions tailored to your needs. With TuxCare’s Enterprise Support for AlmaLinux, AlmaLinux users benefit from 16-year support lifecycle, commercial repository and break-and-fix support, extended security updates with FIPS compliance, and affordable, pay-as-you-go application support. AlmaLinux users can confidently deploy and manage enterprise workloads on Azure, enjoying peace of mind with professional, cost-effective commercial support from TuxCare.
The sources for this article include a story from Microsoft Blog.
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