Released as the first version of Alibaba Cloud Linux in March 2019, Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 is committed to providing users with a more stable and controllable operating system that has better performance than predecessors. Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 serves a large number of Alibaba Cloud users. Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 reached the end of life (EOL) on March 31, 2024. Alibaba Cloud stopped regular support for Alibaba Cloud Linux 2. To prevent system stability and security risks induced by the EOL event, we recommend that you upgrade your operating system to the latest version of Alibaba Cloud Linux 3 at the earliest opportunity.
However, a large number of existing applications run in Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 operating systems, and application migrations cannot be completed before March 31, 2024 due to business reasons. Alibaba Cloud is aware that IT system changes are complex and long-term planning and drills are required to ensure that the IT systems can run smoothly on the upgraded operating systems. Therefore, Alibaba Cloud provides one year of extended support free of charge from March 31, 2024. During the extended support period, Alibaba Cloud tries to fix common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) and bugs that have significant impacts, or provide corresponding solutions. For CVEs and bugs that have controllable impacts, Alibaba Cloud provides on-demand support. For information about the scope of the extended support service, see the Scope of Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 extended support section of this topic. We recommend that you upgrade your operating system at the earliest opportunity to use more features. Alibaba Cloud Linux will continue to provide enhanced services. If you have questions, fill in and submit the questionnaire.
Period of Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 extended support
Starting from the EOL date of March 31, 2024, Alibaba Cloud provides one year of extended support free of charge. At the end of the extended support period, Alibaba Cloud will stop technical support for Alibaba Cloud Linux 2.
Scope of Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 extended support
The Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 extended support service provides fixes for major CVEs and bugs. The following section describes the scope of the extended support service:
Supported architecture: x86 64-bit.
Supported security services: fixes of critical and important CVEs and technical support for major vulnerabilities. To view the most recent list of CVEs of Alibaba Cloud Linux 2, see Alibaba Cloud Linux 2.1903 Security Advisories.
Supported bug fixes:
Bug fixes are provided for urgent issues that occur in the following packages: bind, bash, chrony, glibc, gnutls, httpd, kernel, libgcrypt, libvirt, nss, OpenSSH, OpenSSL, Python 2.7, qemu-kvm, Package Manager (RPM), sudo, systemd, wget, and Yellowdog Updater Modified (YUM). Issues in other packages must be evaluated before technical support is provided.
Alibaba Cloud provides mitigations for bugs that cannot be fixed.
Upgrade Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 to Alibaba Cloud Linux 3
Alibaba Cloud provides the following methods to help you upgrade Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 to Alibaba Cloud Linux 3:
Use Server Migration Center (SMC). For more information, see Migrate a Linux operating system.
Replace the operating system. For more information, see Replace the operating system (system disk) of an instance.
ImportantAfter the operating system is replaced, the original system disk is released and all data stored on the system disk is cleared. You must back up the data on the system disk before you replace the system disk. For more information, see Create a snapshot for a disk.
Join the Alibaba Cloud Linux DingTalk group (group ID: 23149462) to obtain technical support.
submit a ticket to obtain more support free of charge.