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Rocky Linux 9.3 is now available, bringing significant security enhancements and updated developer and system administration tools. Read on to find out more about the new features!
Rocky Linux 9.3 is now available for download from the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation website for the x86-64, aarch64, ppc64le and s390x architectures; the release was published on 20 November 2023 and uses the 5.14.0-362.8.1 kernel. Before you get started, it is worth reading the release notes in the Rocky Linux documentation, which contain important information about known issues and changes.
Key changes
- Version 9.3 brings back the cloud and container images for ppc64le, which were not released with version 9.2 due to issues with QEMU. These images may differ slightly from those for other architectures, but the RESF will work to minimise these differences in future releases.
- The kernel-rt package has been merged into the kernel sub-package.
- A new kernel-uki package has been introduced as a Technology Preview, providing a Unified Kernel Image (UKI) for booting. This UKI image is signed with its own SecureBoot key.
- java-21-openjdk has been introduced, providing the latest version of Java.
Noteworthy new features and changes
- The Rocky Linux 9.3 Azure images will be released under a new release name – resf – instead of the previous long, unreadable name. These images are not yet public, but are expected to be available by the end of the week and will be accompanied by another newsletter.
- The optional guest agent group, which was previously available within the Anaconda Minimal Install and Custom Operating System base environments, is no longer available as optional software for these environments. It remains available in the Server and Server with GUI environments, and can be added after a minimal installation using the command
dnf install @guest-agents. - Problems arose with the Rocky Linux 9.3 KDE live image during the testing phase. As a result, the older 9.2 images remained available for download until a working 9.3 KDE image was ready. On the XFCE, MATE, Workstation and Workstation-Lite live images, the
NetworkManager-dispatcher.servicedid not start; the SELinux messages disappear after running thetouch /.autorelabelcommand and restarting the system.
Software versions and security
| Area | Versions |
|---|---|
| New application streams | Node.js 20, Redis 7, Apache HTTP Server 2.4.57 |
| Basic toolchain | GCC 11.4.1 |
| Compilers and toolkits | GCC Toolset 13, LLVM Toolset 16.0.6, Rust Toolset 1.71.1, Go Toolset 1.20.10 |
| Troubleshooting and performance monitoring | Valgrind 3.21, SystemTap 4.9, elfutils 0.189, PCP 6.0.5, Grafana 9.2.10 |
In terms of security, Keylime has been updated to version 7.3.0; OpenSSH has moved further away from the less secure SHA-1; support for the Extended Master Secret (EMS) required by FIPS 140-3 for TLS 1.2 connections has been improved; and OpenSCAP has been updated to version 1.3.8, whilst the SCAP Security Guide has been updated to version 0.1.69. The AWS AMI images set the boot-mode parameter to uefi-preferred.
ISO verification
Once you have downloaded the 9.3 installation ISOs (Rocky-9.3-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/9.3/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 9 GPG key (RPM-GPG-KEY-Rocky-9, fingerprint: 21CB 256A E16F C54C 6E65 2949 702D 426D 350D 275D), which dnf automatically verifies after installation.
Update and migration
An existing Rocky Linux 9 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 9 series. You can migrate from other Enterprise Linux 9 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 from version 8 to 9. If you do wish to perform an in-place upgrade, you can find the steps for the community-developed ELevate tool in our ELevate guide.
How long is it supported for?
Active support for Rocky Linux 9 (“Blue Onyx”) runs until 31 May 2027, and its lifecycle ends on 31 May 2032. Only the latest minor version receives updates. Further releases in the 9 series:
- Rocky Linux 9.0 (July 2022)
- Rocky Linux 9.1 (November 2022)
- Rocky Linux 9.2 (May 2023)
- Rocky Linux 9.4 (May 2024)
- Rocky Linux 9.5 (November 2024)
- Rocky Linux 9.6 (June 2025)
- Rocky Linux 9.7 (December 2025)
- Rocky Linux 9.8 (May 2026)
Rocky Linux is also an available operating system on our KVM VPS servers, and if you need a whole machine, you can run it on a dedicated server too.