CentOS Linux end-of-life update: The plot thickens

For years, CentOS Linux has been an important Linux distro for us and many, many other operators around the world. It’s one of the three options we offer when you spin up a new Virtual Server, and - for now - it’s a core part of our Web Hosting tech stack.

So we have been paying close attention ever since the end of CentOS as we know it was announced in 2021. There has been no need to panic, as CentOS Linux 7 will remain in support until mid-2024, but we have kept an eye on developments and blogged occasional updates as other distros have upped their game and gotten closer to becoming viable CentOS replacements.

One promise: We will always prefer fully-supported software releases over anything still in beta. Our Web Hosting platform is too important. This is why we've kept CentOS Linux in place as long as we have.

This month some surprising news has made the future even less clear. Since we have been moving cautiously we are not affected too badly at all. But this is a good reminder that careful planning and professional judgement can pay off in unanticipated ways.

Why we’ve chosen CentOS Linux for years

A bit of background first. Two very important features of CentOS Linux have made it the best choice for our Web Hosting servers. One of those features helps you self-manage your hosting, and the other lets us keep running web hosting accounts securely and safely.

• cPanel, the interface that our Web Hosting customers use to manage everything from WordPress installations to email accounts, runs almost exclusively on CentOS Linux. There has not yet been a stable alternative.
• Internally we use another system, CloudLinux, to isolate accounts on our Web Hosting servers. This keeps your hosting healthy even if an issue affects someone else on the same server. But when it comes to installing CloudLinux in the first place, it’s essentially dependent on CentOS Linux.

What CentOS Linux’s developers have done now

CentOS is developed by Red Hat. It was their call to put CentOS Linux into the “end of life” phase a couple of years ago.

Red Hat have historically shared the code behind CentOS Linux (called RHEL), letting other developers access it on an open source principle. But now they have made another big decision and greatly limited who can get their hands on what - and what they may then do with it.

The systems we’re running today are all in support and doing everything they should. Red Hat’s announcement hasn’t changed that.

CloudLinux is an example of a system that was built on RHEL, thanks to open source sharing. Now it looks like they’ve been cut off from their most important input. Such systems need to make very big changes to the way they operate.

Red Hat’s view is that others were simply rebuilding their products and selling them. They have abruptly explained that “we are not under any obligation to make things easier for rebuilders; this is our call to make”. The Linux ecosystem is going to shrink as a result.

There are many other “rebuild” casualties, systems with names like AlmaLinux and RockyLinux. Anyone who has started implementing any of these options as their replacement for CentOS Linux has been more or less sent back to square one.

How this affects the job of replacing CentOS Linux

Let me start this section by acknowledging a frustrating fact - all of this is a huge amount of fuss, and as a Web Hosting customer the best you can hope for is no real change. Once we get CentOS Linux off our servers, you’ll want to log in and manage everything just like before. We have huge decisions to make and a lot of work to do, all so your experience doesn’t go backwards. It’s unavoidable, even though we’d rather put our time and energy into making material improvements.

Since we have been moving cautiously we are not affected too badly at all. But this is a good reminder that careful planning and professional judgement can pay off in unanticipated ways.

That said, here’s a look at where we’re at right now, and what our next steps will be.

Our starting point is that the systems we’re running today are all in support and doing everything they should. Red Hat’s announcement hasn’t changed that. CentOS Linux, cPanel and CloudLinux are humming along.

There’s only about a year left on the clock though, so changes are coming.

We have been closely watching Ubuntu, a leading CentOS alternative. cPanel support for Ubuntu is relatively new but signs are encouraging. The makers of CloudLinux are also working to integrate Ubuntu in place of CentOS, but this is still in beta.

One promise: We will always prefer fully-supported software releases over anything still in beta. Our Web Hosting platform is too important. This is why we've kept CentOS Linux in place as long as we have. Our team is assessing options and, as always, not rushing in before there’s a clear path to take.

If you’re spinning up a new VPS or other server our advice is to leave CentOS Linux out if you can. We recommend a Debian base in its place.

For servers you’re already running, now could be a good time to think about moving away from CentOS on your terms. If you’d like advice, we’re here to help.

Main photo by Derek Oyen on Unsplash