CentOS is the End of Life; Now what…!

Have you heard that CentOS is dying?

Yes, you have heard right!

There is a talk in the town that CentOS will stop its journey.

What is EOL?

It generally indicates the End of life of CentOS on 30th June 2024 as it’s a prime date in the enterprise world. For almost 20 years, CentOS Linux has been the first choice for server workloads. However, the situation is about to change when CentOS Linux 7, the last live version ends its life. This indicates the repositories will be shut down and no further version will be released.  In short, a business using CentOS Linux must find a new home or a solution to continue working.

List of a few highlighters of implications for users and organizations who depend upon this operating system:

No more Updates:

CentOS Linux will not be able to receive official updates, including security patches, bugs, fixes, or new features. This means that your system will become more vulnerable to security vulnerabilities as new threats are discovered and this eliminates the official fixes provided.  

Reduced Security

As CentOS Linux is no longer able to produce security compliance requirements for the organization. Hence, running an unsupported operating system can lead to significant security risks, potentially leading to data breaches and other security incidents.

Inadequate support

Due to the journey’s end, the community and official support distribution may be ignored. Getting an appropriate solution will become a tough challenge.  

Performance and stability:

Since its updated version is unavailable, it may become less stable and efficient.

Compliance Concerns:

If your organization is indulged with regulatory standards like HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, etc. Then, accessing such EOL will put you in violation of those requirements. Most of the compliance standards mandate the use of supported and up-to-date software.  

These are the implications that are necessary to note down for further action that needs to be taken by the businesses.

Check the recommendation that needs to be taken:

Plan an OS Migration:

Since it’s going to end soon then finding an alternative operating system that is maintained and receiving updates will be the end of the road. Such options are Ubuntu, Alma Linux, Rocky Linux, etc.

Backup and Data Migration:

Taking a backup is the foremost factor that needs to be done before migration.

Testing:

Plan a test to evaluate the compatibility of the applications and services.  

Implementation:

Once you’re enough confident with your new operating system choice along with the testing result then implement the transition in your production environment.

Training and documentation:

Train your IT team and end–users to access the new operating system and update the documentation and procedures accordingly.  

Ongoing Maintenance:

After migration, it’s time to update and maintain your new operating system to check its security and stability.  

Final Words

I hope you have a clear idea about EOL and how to deal with it on an urgent basis. You can also study in deep and act as per your company norms.