Rocky Linux 8.4 Stable Release takes on CentOS as Alternative

Rocky Linux is perhaps the most anticipated CentOS alternative for 2021, and it has finally arrived, with the first stable release v8.4, codenamed Green Obsidian, now available to the public.

While Rocky Linux is intended to serve as a complete binary-compatible release using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux source code, the project aims to provide a community-supported and production-grade enterprise operating system.

The first stable release, Rocky Linux 8.4 is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4, with a conversion tool (migrate2rocky) that has been made available to help users easily migrate their existing Linux system to Rocky Linux.

What are the Major Features of Rocky Linux 8.4?

Rocky Linux 8.4 is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 and also features some great security improvements, like the IPsec VPN by Libreswan which has been improved with TCP encapsulation support and security labels for the IKEv2 protocol.

Also, there are several other updates that improve memory management, along with technical changes that improve memory allocation. Such as the slab memory controller that brings improvement in slab utilization, enabling a shift in the memory accounting from the page level to object level.

Other upgraded features in Rocky Linux 8.4 include:

Additionally, the compiler toolsets have all been updated in Rocky Linux 8.4 and there is also a support Error Detection and Correction (EDAC) kernel module that works with Intel 8th and 9th gen processors.

How to Download and Install Rocky Linux 8.4?

Rocky Linux 8.4 is now available for download from the official website, you can also choose from the container images available on the Docker Hub and Quay.io.

But note that the first ISO doesn't come with Secure Boot support, however, a new ISO is expected for release later which will include the Secure Boot.