The AlmaLinux OS Foundation has announced the release of the AlmaLinux OS 10.1 Beta, codenamed Heliotrope Lion. This beta release is a significant preview of their next major enterprise-grade operating system version.
AlmaLinux 10.1 Beta is available for all supported architectures, including Intel/AMD, ARM64, IBM PowerPC, and IBM Z.
This release is not intended for production use, but rather for community testing and feedback.
Table of Contents
Key Technical Enhancements and Deviations
AlmaLinux 10.1 Beta includes several features and modifications that distinguish it from its upstream distribution, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10:
1. Btrfs Filesystem Support
AlmaLinux 10.1 now supports the Btrfs filesystem, building on its availability in AlmaLinux OS Kitten since early September.
For those wondering, Btrfs is a modern Copy-on-Write (CoW) filesystem that provides advanced features like snapshotting, volume management, checksumming, and transparent compression, leading to better performance and stronger resistance against data issues.
This support covers both kernel and userspace enablement, allowing users to install AlmaLinux OS directly onto a Btrfs volume by selecting the partitioning scheme in the custom partitioning panel during installation.
2. x86-64-v2 Architecture
The AlmaLinux team added the x86-64-v2 architecture release specifically to support older hardware. This decision addresses RHEL's move to increase its architecture baseline to v3, which would drop support for numerous older CPUs.
While AlmaLinux OS 10 will follow the default use of x86-64-v3 optimized binaries, the x86-64-v2 option is provided only for users with older hardware, and the AlmaLinux community also rebuilds EPEL for these users.
3. Performance and Tracing
Frame pointers have been re-enabled by default in the AlmaLinux kernel. This modification enables system-wide real-time tracing and profiling, which allows users to optimize the performance of any workload running on the operating system.
4. Virtualization
AlmaLinux 10.1 Beta re-enabled SPICE support for both server and client applications. Additionally, it enabled KVM for IBM POWER within the virtualization stack, ensuring continued KVM functionality similar to that found in AlmaLinux 8.
5. Extended Hardware Support
AlmaLinux modified specific device drivers to re-add PCI IDs for hardware that was disabled in the upstream distribution.
This extends support for various controllers and network adapters, including models from Dell PERC, Adaptec, HP Smart Array, LSI, QLogic, Emulex, and Mellanox.
6. Packaging
Firefox and Thunderbird are included as regular RPM packages within the system repositories.
Updated Components
The 10.1 Beta release brings numerous component updates aimed at performance improvements and smooth, efficient operation:
- Kernel: Powered by Linux Kernel version 6.12.0.
- Compilers and Toolsets: Updates include GCC 14.3.1, GCC Toolset 15, LLVM Toolset 20.1.8, and Rust Toolset 1.88.0.
- Security: Security enhancements involve updates to OpenSSL 3.5.1, SELinux-policy 42.1.7, and SSSD 2.11.1.
- Containers & Virtualization: New versions of container and virtualization tools include podman 5.6.0, buildah 1.41.3, Libvirt 11.5.0, and QEMU-KVM 10.0.0.
- Other Key Updates: Other components receiving updates are Python 3.12.11, Node.js 24, Samba 4.22.4, and Mesa 25.0.7.
Packages Added and Removed
As a community distribution aiming for compatibility, AlmaLinux replaces RHEL-specific components:
- Added Packages (AlmaLinux Branding): Packages such as
almalinux-logos,almalinux-release, andalmalinux-backgroundsare added to provide AlmaLinux branding and release information, replacing the correspondingredhat-packages. - Removed Packages (RHEL Proprietary): AlmaLinux removes packages tied to upstream vendor resources, subscription management, and proprietary binaries. Examples include
insights-client,kpatch*(RHEL live patches for the kernel), and variousredhat-release and support tools, as well as proprietary binaries for virtualization likespice-client-win-*andvirtio-win.
Upgrade to AlmaLinux 10.1 Beta from Older Versions
WARNING: Please do not use these update instructions on production machines unless you don't mind if something breaks.
To upgrade to the 10.1 Beta version, simply follow these steps:
1. Upgrade the almalinux-release packages to the 10.1-11 version from the beta repositories using command:
sudo dnf install -y https://vault.almalinux.org/almalinux-{release,repos,gpg-keys}-latest-10-beta.x86_64.rpm2. Clean the dnf cache:
sudo dnf clean all
3. Upgrade the remaining packages. The new package contains updated repository URLs, so you can simply run:
sudo dnf upgrade -y
Download AlmaLinux 10.1 Beta
You can download the AlmaLinux OS 10.1 Beta directly from the AlmaLinux repository. The Beta ISO images are available at https://repo.almalinux.org/almalinux/10.1-beta/.
The AlmaLinux 10.1 Beta is available for all supported architectures, including:
- Intel / AMD (x86_64 and x86_64_v2)
- ARM64 (aarch64)
- IBM PowerPC (ppc64le)
- IBM Z (s390x)
For the x86_64 architecture, there are three installation ISO images available:
AlmaLinux-10.1-beta-1-x86_64-boot.iso: A single network installation CD image that downloads packages over the Internet.AlmaLinux-10.1-beta-1-x86_64-minimal.iso: A minimal self-containing DVD image that allows for offline installation.AlmaLinux-10.1-beta-1-x86_64-dvd.iso: A full installation DVD image containing most AlmaLinux packages.
You can use a command like the following example to retrieve the network installation ISO:
wget https://repo.almalinux.org/almalinux/10.1-beta/isos/x86_64/AlmaLinux-10.1-beta-1-x86_64-boot.iso
Once you've downloaded the ISO image, you can write it to a USB drive using tools like Etcher or Ventoy. For alternative bootable creation tools, you can explore options on this link -> ostechnix.com/category/bootable-usb/.
Important Warning
As this is a BETA release, you should NOT use it in production. You should also not use the provided upgrade instructions on production machines unless you are prepared for potential breakages.
If you encounter any issues during testing, you are encouraged to report bugs on the AlmaLinux Bug Tracker.
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