Rocky Linux now GA. Veeam support ??? (also AlmaLinux)

[PTide]

Hi,

Yes Rocky and Alma will be supported starting from version 9.3

Thanks!

[aj_potc]

Hi @PTide,

What about the v8 branch? RHEL v8 (and thus Rocky/Alma v8) won't go EOL until May of 2029. RHEL 9 is still relatively new, having been released less than a year ago.

Are there really no plans to support the current version 8.9 of Rocky/Alma? If that's the case, then this news won't help me much, as I have systems that will remain on 8.X for quite some time to come, as I'm sure many others do.

[rovshan.pashayev]

Hello,

In the upcoming release we will support Alma Linux (along side with Rocky) from version 9.3 only.

Version 8.9 was not tested because it's out of support now. We didn't want to introduce support for something new that vendors themselves don't support any longer, as we would be on our own in case of any technical issues.

Thanks

[aj_potc]

Hi Rovshan,

I'm afraid you're mistaken. The version 8 branch of RHEL (upon which Rocky/Alma is built) is very much still supported and according to Red Hat will be maintained until 2029. You can read about their lifecycle here:
https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata

This is the same reason that you still support CentOS 7, which will be maintained for a couple more months.

If Veeam isn't going to support the same (current) versions of Rocky/Alma as they do for RHEL, then that's a real kick in the teeth to those of us who've been waiting years for it.

[Gostev]

Hi AJ,

I don't understand why are you referencing RHEL support lifecycle when discussed here is Alma 8.9 support.
Here's are the dates for Alma > https://endoflife.date/almalinux

Thanks

[aj_potc]

Hi Anton,

Rocky and Alma are both based on RHEL 8 and will therefore continue to receive security patches for the full lifecycle of RHEL 8, which will not end until 2029. That is the official EOL date for these distributions.

This is confirmed in the page you referenced as well as here (for Alma):
https://wiki.almalinux.org/FAQ.html

And here for Rocky:
https://docs.rockylinux.org/release_notes/

I don't know why you get a different impression. This is the way RHEL and derivatives have worked for a long time. CentOS and RHEL 7 also had a period of active support followed by maintenance support. If Veeam decides that the maintenance support period doesn't count, then this would be entirely inconsistent with industry practice as well as your own practice up until now.

[Gostev]

I don't know why you keep referencing RHEL. We do support RHEL 8, but this discussion is not about RHEL 8.

Did you read the link I shared in my previous post? Alma version 8.9 is no longer actively supported by the vendor itself. There's no also no "maintenance support" of any kind either, only security patches. Everyone is on their own with any technical issues they encounter.

If Veeam had proven support for Alma 8.9 for years before, that's one thing to continue supporting it. But to introduce brand new support for the OS version no longer supported by the vendor itself is a big ask for Veeam. How do we work through any technical issues we might encounter?

[aj_potc]

RHEL is the basis for Rocky and Alma, so of course it's relevant what RHEL is doing. The entire lifecycle is dictated by them, and so the downstream rebuilds follow them.

> Alma version 8.9 is no longer actively supported by the vendor itself.

I think you're talking about a different kind of support. The Alma project will continue to "support" Alma 8 the same way they always have, which is by rebuilding, testing, and releasing it with the latest upstream patches from Red Hat. Rocky will do the same.

> Everyone is on their own with any technical issues they encounter.

They always were. Just like with CentOS, these are rebuilds and do not include commercial support. However, the projects will continue to stand behind the current versions of their rebuilds. If you doubt me on this, please ask them for clarification.

> How do we work through any technical issues we might encounter?

The same way you will if you have problems with the Rocky/Alma 9.X branch -- by contacting the people at the respective organizations. Both of them have reached out to you in this topic to volunteer assistance. I'm sure they'll be happy to help out with the current versions of both the 8 and 9 branches should you need anything.

> If Veeam had proven support for Alma 8.9 for years before, that's one thing to continue supporting it.

I understand it would be new support for Veeam. That's what I thought you announced. If you choose not to support a current OS version, that would be a shame. But, respectfully, please don't use the excuse that the 8.X branch is no longer supported by its vendor, as this is not true. The EOL for Rocky and Alma 8 are outlined on the official sites I referenced. For open source projects, those dates represent the end of "support."

[Gostev]

Instead of arguing, I'll just leave a link to the official site here then, when everyone can see for themselves > https://wiki.almalinux.org/release-notes/
There everyone can see what the current Alma version is, as well as the statement directly from the vendor about active support end date for V8.

[mikeely]

I get it, y'all. Today I'm dealing with a vendor who absolutely insists on using Rocky 8 and won't consider 9. Fortunately this particular project is a VM so I don't have to play shenanigans with /etc/release but I can certainly see the perspective of someone who can't upgrade for absurd reasons like this. @aj_potc if you can't simply upgrade (and this particular upgrade isn't much of a jump) then are you required to be on a supported backup platform? If not, munging /etc/release during install works just fine.

[Gostev]

Would Alma/Rocky be willing to reconsider their current support lifecycle and extend the active support phase for V8?
Especially if this date really doesn't change anything in reality, which seems to be AJ's position/opinion.

Otherwise it's a weird situation where Veeam is asked to implement new support and start actively supporting the OS version that the OS vendor itself explicitly does not want to actively support any longer.

[aj_potc]

Hi Anton,

This seems to be a misunderstanding over terminology. Alma and Rocky are following Red Hat's lifecycle but use different wording for the same thing.

Red Hat calls the two support periods "Full Support" and "Maintenance Support". Please see here:
https://access.redhat.com/support/polic ... ycle_Dates

RHEL 8 is soon to enter into its "Maintenance Support" phase, which lasts until 2029.

Alma calls these periods "active support" and "security support," while Rocky uses "general support" and "security support." The end of the first phase tells us only that no new software functionality is expected to be added after that date; security and bug fixes from RHEL would continue to be handled during the second phase until EOL.

I've explained it as well as I can. I'm sure the Alma and Rocky projects can give you any assurances you need on this. Regardless of Veeam's position on supporting a certain version of an OS, I think it's inaccurate to claim that Alma/Rocky 8 is out of support, whereas RHEL 8 is not.

[johnsmith]

Well said, @aj_potc.

Of course, Veeam can pick whatever platform they want to support. But Alma/Rocky 8 is absolutely not dead and will continue to be maintained until 2029. It is exactly like how CentOS 7 has end of life on June 30, 2024. RHEL 8/Alma 8/Rocky 8 end of life is in 2029.

Also I am not sure why Veeam supports RHEL 8 but not Alma/Rocky 8. They are the close enough that what runs on RHEL 8 should work on Alma/Rocky 8.

[Gostev]

Hey, that was actually my own pitch to QA in the early days - until they factually proven the opposite on a number of "close enough" distros, and more than once by now. So they rightfully insist on specifically testing each officially supported release.

But based on what you shared they may agree to give V8 a look once CentOS 7 goes EOL and thus can be removed from their labs. Then, if everything works with no surprises, may be they can agree to at least experimental support for V8. But basically, something has to go first. V9 was already squeezed on top of a huge pile and they just don't have any spare cycles for anything else at the moment.

[mcz]

Thanks Anton for the insights, always interesting to see "the other side".

Just as an information for everyone here: I'm running a hardened repo on Alma Linux 8 since almost two years and never had any issues (really, zero). I understand that you wannt to have it officially supported, but if your setup, environment and policy allows it, you can give it a go. I understand it if someone says "we can't do that", but just wannted to share my experience with everyone else here.

BTW, I love it that veeam has created a "small" piece of software that works well in an isolated environment with zero updates and 24x7x365. Thank you!