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    AlmaLinux FAQ

    This page answers the relationship questions most often asked during selection and migration. The facts follow the official FAQ and comparison pages.

    How does it relate to RHEL, Rocky and CentOS Stream

    Section titled “How does it relate to RHEL, Rocky and CentOS Stream”

    The official FAQ defines AlmaLinux as a community-owned and community-driven, stable and secure Linux distribution that is compatible with RHEL. Its promise for general software is that what works on RHEL should work the same way on AlmaLinux.

    The official comparison page sets out who is behind each: AlmaLinux is wholly owned by the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in the US; it describes the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF) behind Rocky as a B-Corp, and Red Hat and Oracle as for-profit corporations.

    The relationship with CentOS Stream needs its own sentence. The official FAQ says AlmaLinux is not 1:1 with CentOS Stream, as Stream may at points track well ahead of AlmaLinux releases.

    Certification status: FIPS and more

    Section titled “Certification status: FIPS and more”

    For compliance, the question asked most is FIPS: the official FAQ states that AlmaLinux OS 9.2 is FIPS-140 compliant. For other certifications (Common Criteria and so on), the official certification catalog is the authority; this site does not relay certification conclusions that have no official page.

    Common migration misconceptions

    Section titled “Common migration misconceptions”

    Three frequent mistakes. First, reading “ABI compatible with RHEL” as “a package-for-package 1:1 rebuild” (since July 2023 the official goal is ABI compatibility, not rebuild alignment). Second, using the migration tool on a system outside the support matrix (check the supported source matrix first). Third, applying the migration script across major versions (that is the job of ELevate). To see how migration itself goes, start from Online migration to AlmaLinux.

    The name Alma and the community’s safeguards

    Section titled “The name Alma and the community’s safeguards”

    The official FAQ records where the name comes from: Alma means “soul” in Spanish and other Latin languages. The project is owned by the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, a 501(c)(6) non-profit incorporated on 2021-03-18; for governance details see Versions and Support.

    Section titled “Related pages”