Amazon Web Services (AWS) released an early version of its upcoming distro, Amazon Linux 3, which is based on Red Hat’s Community Linux, Fedora.
With Fedora as upstream, the new Amazon distro, AL2022 is extremely stable after extensive package stability tests and contains all available security updates. In addition, it is optimized for Amazon EC2 and integrates seamlessly with the latest AWS features and many AWS-specific tools.
The brand new Amazon Linux also includes frequent and flexible quarterly updates, as each AL2022 update matches a specific version of the Amazon Linux package archive. Updates are only required if the user wants to make a move and not if a new version is released.
As far as general security is concerned, AL2022 is enabled with SELinux and is enforced by default. SELinux restricts everything, unless it is explicitly permitted, and is the exact opposite of the Linux standard security policy, which allows everything unless it is explicitly prohibited. By this setting, AL2022 will truly increase security and minimize the possibility of cyberattacks.
AL2022 is now available for preview in all commercial regions and can be launched from AWS Management Console, AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell, RunInstances or AWS CloudFormation template.
AL2022 is launched in a two-year release cycle and has five years of support. While AL2022 is free, running Amazon EC2 instances and other services comes with standard fees for Amazon EC2 and AWS.