AlmaLinux OS 9.7 Released: The Leading Free RHEL Alternative Gets a Major Upgrade

The AlmaLinux OS Foundation has officially released AlmaLinux OS 9.7, codenamed “Moss Jungle Cat,” marking another significant milestone for one of the most mature free alternatives to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

This community-driven, enterprise-grade Linux distribution maintains 100% binary compatibility with RHEL 9.7 while delivering comprehensive improvements across performance optimization, development tools, and security enhancements.

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Comprehensive Development Toolchain Upgrades

AlmaLinux OS 9.7 brings substantial updates to its development ecosystem, offering developers access to cutting-edge tools and languages.

The release includes updated debugging tools such as GDB 16.3, Valgrind 3.25.1, and SystemTap 5.3, alongside major compiler and language updates including GCC 15, LLVM 20.1.8, Rust 1.88.0, and Go 1.24.

These enhancements are designed to improve build efficiency and debugging capabilities for C/C++ projects, cloud-native applications, container image construction, and high-performance computing scenarios, significantly elevating the overall development experience.

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Enhanced Network Capabilities

The network subsystem has received important upgrades in this release. AlmaLinux OS 9.7 introduces NetworkManager 1.54, Ethtool 6.15, and iproute 6.14.0, providing more stable and reliable network management, link performance tuning, and network visualization capabilities.

These improvements enhance the system’s network adaptation capabilities in server and virtualization environments, making AlmaLinux better suited for cloud platforms, large-scale clusters, and enterprise data centers with complex network topologies and high-bandwidth application requirements.

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Security Breakthrough: Post-Quantum Cryptography Support

One of the most notable features of this release is its forward-looking security posture. AlmaLinux OS 9.7 introduces Post-Quantum (PQ) sub-policy support through OpenSSL 3.5, equipping the system with the capability to support post-quantum cryptographic algorithms—a critical preparation for the quantum computing era.

Additionally, security components including SELinux policies, SSSD, and Keylime have been upgraded, strengthening the system’s access control, trusted boot, and identity management capabilities. This security framework optimization reinforces the trust foundation essential for enterprise-grade Linux deployments.

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Updated User Software Components

Beyond development and security enhancements, AlmaLinux OS 9.7 synchronizes updates for numerous commonly-used software components, including Podman, Buildah, GIMP, Mesa, Samba, and Git-LFS. Whether for container building, graphics processing, file services, or daily operations, users can expect improved performance and broader hardware compatibility.

The new version also incorporates module streams such as Node.js 24 and SWIG 4.3, further strengthening the system’s adaptability in modern development and automation scenarios.

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Proven Linux 5.14 Kernel Foundation

AlmaLinux OS 9.7 continues to use the enterprise-validated Linux Kernel 5.14, the same kernel version deployed in RHEL 9.7.

This kernel has proven its excellence in server, virtualization, container, and cloud environments, maintaining high stability while inheriting all of RHEL’s compatibility advantages—providing a solid platform foundation for enterprises running mission-critical workloads.

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Multi-Architecture Support

The release provides installation images covering multiple architectures including x86_64, AArch64, ppc64le, and IBM System Z (s390x), enabling seamless deployment across common servers, ARM cloud instances, and mainframe hardware platforms.

This cross-platform consistency strengthens AlmaLinux’s applicability and flexibility in multi-architecture data center environments, ensuring enterprises can build unified operating system environments across different hardware systems.

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Easy Upgrade Path

For existing AlmaLinux OS 9 series users, upgrading to the new version doesn’t require system reinstallation—a simple package update command in the terminal completes the version transition. New users can download architecture-specific images from the official website for fresh installations. The official release notes provide detailed update contents and compatibility information to help users smoothly complete system upgrades and deployments.

AlmaLinux OS 9.7 continues to demonstrate why it has become one of the most trusted free RHEL alternatives, delivering enterprise-grade reliability, modern development tools, and forward-thinking security features to organizations worldwide.