CentOS 7 continues to live today supporting millions of workloads. Sure, you won’t get a new version of CentOS with new features, but CentOS 7 works fine as-is. But wait, no more security updates after June 2024? Well, that could be a problem… and that’s where TuxCare will come to the rescue.
We’ve been offering Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS) for CentOS since November 2020 and will make CentOS 7 end of life a non-event when it comes around.
ELS allows you to continue using CentOS 7 safely for as long as you need while getting all the necessary assistance from our seasoned enterprise architects to ensure the smoothest transition to a new Linux distribution at your convenience.
Subscribe either monthly or yearly to our CentOS 7 Support coverage.
Only pay for the exact amount of coverage you need (and nothing you don’t)
with our two ELS pricing options.
Get everything included in ELS Standard, plus:
* Starting from the date the vulnerability is publicly disclosed
Our patches are designed with surgical precision and rigorously tested to provide businesses with the assurance that their legacy systems remain secure, stable, and compliant in the face of evolving cyber threats.
When you sign up for TuxCare’s Extended Lifecycle Support, you’ll get patches for an extensive package list, providing maximum security for your operating system
Ensure a secure and well-executed transition
for your CentOS 7 systems
Just run a single script and TuxCare will continuously provide the latest patches into your CentOS 7 servers – giving you more time to decide what to do after CentOS 7. You can even create a local mirror to store all our CentOS 7 support updates using rsync.
Your maintenance processes won’t be affected — you’ll continue to use your tool of choice for patch deployment (yum, dnf, etc).
The TuxCare team combines 450+ years of in-depth technical knowledge of Linux and kernel development
We have a proven track record of security patching with over 120,000 patches to date – and growing
You can request support for additional server packages that are not currently on our list
TuxCare can support environments that run multiple types of end-of-life Linux distributions
ELS gives you an affordable option to maintain the security and stability of your EOL systems
You have about two years of CentOS 7 support left. Red Hat will cease providing updated packages for current CentOS Linux 7 users in June 2024. It should leave you with enough time to migrate to another operating system, but you may decide to continue using CentOS 7 for as long as possible. It could be to avoid the need to upgrade other applications, or because you simply can’t migrate your workloads within the two-year period.
Even though the official Red Hat support for CentOS 7 will end in June 2024, you can sign up for TuxCare Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS) in 2024 which will ensure that you keep your workloads safe and secure for many more years.
When the CentOS project announced that no future stable releases of CentOS will be published it didn’t mean that CentOS distributions would stop working. You’ll always be able to use CentOS 7, but you will lose official support in 2024 with the CentOS 7 EOL date set in June and there will be no minor releases either.
Considering the bigger picture, CentOS versions that exist as a stable release Linux distribution are indeed going away because CentOS 8 is already end of life, and there won’t be a CentOS 9 release date. With no official support, CentOS users won’t get protected by new vendor patches for emerging vulnerabilities or bug fixes. You need to either switch to an alternative Linux distribution or find an alternative source of support.
For many intents and purposes, yes. You and the rest of the CentOS community have until June 2024 to continue using CentOS Linux 7 with official support. It’s pointless to upgrade to CentOS 8, because it’s already end of life, and there won’t be a CentOS version of RHEL 9 – so no CentOS Linux 9.
Could the continuous delivery CentOS Stream work for your organization? There is a chance, but if you used CentOS versions because it is binary compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you’re out of luck. So, CentOS Linux as you knew it is discontinued – but soon, you’ll be able to sign up for many extra years of extra support for CentOS 7, so there’s no need to panic.
That’s when official Red Hat Software support ends for CentOS 7. That means that Red Hat will no longer provide patches and updates for CentOS 7, even if there is a critical vulnerability that must get fixed.
While end of life for CentOS 7 is only due June 2024, it is worth starting your planning to migrate early. Unable to plan migration for production systems in time? Watch this space for TuxCare’s CentOS 7 extended lifecycle support.