Update to Amazon Linux 2023 or later (before 2025-06-30)

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See:

• "Amazon Linux 2023"
• "Comparing Amazon Linux 2 and Amazon Linux 2023" (al2023-ug.pdf)

As per "Amazon Linux 2 FAQs":

Q. When will support for Amazon Linux 2 end?

Amazon Linux 2 end of support date (End of Life, or EOL) has been extended by two years from 2023-06-30 to 2025-06-30 to provide customers with ample time to migrate to the next version.

Note that by the time I do this, it might be Amazon Linux 2025 instead of 2023, as per "Amazon Linux 2023 FAQs":

Q: What is the release schedule for Amazon Linux?

A: A new major version releases every two years and comes with five years of long-term support with each release consisting of two phases: active development phase (2 years), and maintenance phase (3 years). In the active development phase, the release receives quarterly minor version updates. Each minor version is a cumulative list of updates that includes security and bug fixes in addition to the new features and packages. During the maintenance phase, a release receives only security updates and critical bug fixes that will be published as soon as they are available.

This issue supersedes:

• Migrate to "Amazon Linux 2" (before 2021) #136

Blocks:

• Update to NodeJS v20... or maybe even Bun... #208

Related:

• Update Git from v2.40.1 to v2.44.0 or similar #223 (not sure what version will be in Amazon Linux by the time I upgrade)

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Stuff that may or will require manual intervention:

AMI root file system and default Amazon EBS volume type

The AL2023 AMI and Amazon Linux 2 both use the XFS file system on the root file system. For AL2023, the mkfsoptions for the root device file system are further optimized for Amazon EC2. AL2023 also supports a number of other file systems that you can use on other volumes to meet your specific requirements.

AL2023 AMIs use Amazon EBS gp3 volumes by default, whereas Amazon Linux 2 AMIs use Amazon EBS gp2 volumes by default. You can change the volume type when you launch an instance. For more information about Amazon EBS volume types, see Amazon EBS General Purpose Volumes. For more information about launching an Amazon EC2 instance, see Launch an instance in the Amazon EC2 User Guide for Linux Instances.

Task scheduling

In Amazon Linux 2 the cronie package was installed by default on the Amazon Machine Image (AMI), providing support for the traditional crontab way of scheduling periodic tasks. In AL2023, we use systemd timer units and cronie extensively. Support for crontab is no longer provided by default.

You can optionally install the cronie package to use classic cron jobs. We recommmend that you migrate to systemd timers due to the added functionality provided by systemd.

Package manager

The default software package management tool on AL2023 is DNF. DNF is the successor to YUM, the package management tool in Amazon Linux 2.

For more information, see Package management tool.

Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL)

Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) is a project in the Fedora community with the objective of creating a large array of packages for enterprise-level Linux operating systems. The project has primarily produced RHEL and CentOS packages. Amazon Linux 2 features a high level of compatibility with CentOS 7. As a result, many EPEL7 packages work on Amazon Linux 2. However, AL2023 doesn't support EPEL or EPEL-like repositories.

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All packages listing

Issues to watch:

• [Package Request] logwatch amazonlinux/amazon-linux-2023#48 (dropped because I never revise the logs, and I am trying to cut back on Perl dependencies, like I did for gitweb in Stop running gitweb #212)
• [Package Request] - Monit amazonlinux/amazon-linux-2023#124 (they marked as "won't fix" because they instead advise people to use systemd functionality)
• [Package Request] - acme-tiny amazonlinux/amazon-linux-2023#412

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Release cadence

• Amazon Linux 2023 will hit EOL in 2028.
• Amazon Linux 2025 will hit EOL in 2030.
• Amazon Linux 2027 will hit EOL in 2032.
• etc...

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With all the breaking changes, considering moving back to good ol' CentOS or Fedora. Remembering how big the move was to Amazon Linux 2...

Amazon itself lists alternatives here.