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The stable version of Rocky Linux 8.7 was officially released on 14 November 2022. This release is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.7, is available for the x86_64 and aarch64 architectures, and uses the 4.18.0-425.3.1 kernel.
Release notes contain important information about the release, details of specific content within the release (such as new modules or updates to the distribution) and key points to note.
Testing
Rocky Linux releases undergo thorough testing to ensure accuracy and stability. The testing comprises hundreds of manual and automated checks, covering all kinds of environments and configurations.
Rocky Linux 8.7 underwent more than five days of testing before the team approved it. The test logs, discussions and release checklist can be viewed on the project’s chat.rockylinux.org channel.
The team encourages anyone interested in the process to join them on chat.rockylinux.org.
Noteworthy changes
NetworkManager has been updated to version 1.40 and now stores DHCP lease data in the /run/NetworkManager/devices/ directory.
The new module versions include node.js 18, mercurial:6.2, maven:3.8 and ruby:3.1.
The new version of the compiler suite includes GCC 12, LLVM 14.0.6, Rust 1.62 and Go 1.18.
In httpd, the default value of the LimitRequestBody directive has been changed from unlimited to 1 GiB to address CVE-2022-29404.
SSSD now supports direct integration with Windows Server 2022.
Further changes to the release notes:
- NSS no longer accepts RSA keys shorter than 1023 bits
clevis-luks-askpassis enabled by default; fapolicyd has been updated to version 1.1.3 and the SCAP Security Guide to version 0.1.63- Redis has been updated to version 6.2.7, chrony to version 4.2, unbound to version 1.16.2 and open-vm-tools to version 12.0.5
- New tools:
nfsrahead(NFS readahead) andrpcctl, new package:xmlstarlet - GenericCloud, EC2 and Azure images are now also available with LVM root file systems, and the official Oracle Cloud images have been released
- According to the release notes, there were no known bugs in version 8.7
Updates
Updates released since the upstream release are now available for all supported architectures. The Rocky Linux team recommends that all users install all updates on their existing machines as well.
All Rocky Linux components are built from sources available at git.rockylinux.org. In addition to the repositories, the SRPMs are also available in a corresponding ‘source’ directory. You can find these on any Rocky Linux mirror. These source packages correspond to every released binary RPM.
It is important to note that this release overwrites all previously released Rocky Linux 8 content, so it is advisable to update the system. Outdated content from the previous release will be removed from the repositories; Rocky Linux preserves this in the vault archive, but it is recommended that you use the latest updates.
On the day of publication, the mirror servers were still synchronising the content, so the updates were not immediately available everywhere.
Download
The 8.7 ISO images are now available in the Rocky Linux archive:
The latest point release is available on the download page.
ISO verification
Once you have downloaded the 8.7 installation ISOs (Rocky-8.7-x86_64-boot.iso, -minimal.iso, -dvd1.iso/-dvd.iso), it is worth checking them. In the folder where you saved the ISOs:
curl -O https://dl.rockylinux.org/vault/rocky/8.7/isos/x86_64/CHECKSUM
sha256sum -c CHECKSUM --ignore-missing
The command compares the ISO files in the folder with the CHECKSUM file and returns an ‘OK’ result next to the downloaded image file. The packages are signed by the Rocky Linux 8 GPG key (RPM-GPG-KEY-Rocky-8, fingerprint: 7051 C470 A929 F454 CEBE 37B7 15AF 5DAC 6D74 5A60), which dnf automatically verifies after installation.
Update and migration
An existing Rocky Linux 8 system can be updated using the usual command:
sudo dnf -y upgrade
Rocky Linux only ever supports the latest point release of each major release, so the command now updates to the latest release in the 8 series. You can migrate from other Enterprise Linux 8 distributions (AlmaLinux, CentOS, Oracle Linux, RHEL) using the migrate2rocky script.
Rocky Linux does not officially support in-place upgrades between major versions; it recommends a fresh installation for the 9 series. However, the community-developed ELevate tool can be used to perform an 8 → 9 upgrade; the steps are described in our guide ‘Upgrading AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux from 8 to 9 using ELevate’.
How long is it supported for?
Active support for Rocky Linux 8 (“Green Obsidian”) lasted until 31 May 2024, and its lifecycle ends on 31 May 2029. Only the latest point release receives updates. Further releases in the 8 series:
- Rocky Linux 8.6 (May 2022)
- Rocky Linux 8.8 (May 2023)
- Rocky Linux 8.9 (November 2023)
- Rocky Linux 8.10 (May 2024, the final minor release in the series)
You can also choose Rocky Linux as your operating system when ordering a KVM VPS or a dedicated server.