Rocky Linux 9.8 Released Based on RHEL 9.8 — and Rocky Linux 10.2 Development Begins
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Rocky Linux 9.8 Released Based on RHEL 9.8 — and Rocky Linux 10.2 Development Begins
The Rocky Linux project has officially released Rocky Linux 9.8, the latest maintenance update in the 9.x series. Alongside the release, the community has launched development of Rocky Linux 10.2 based on RHEL 10.2.
As a free, community-driven enterprise-grade Linux distribution built for full compatibility with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Rocky Linux has established itself as the go-to CentOS successor for enterprises and individual users worldwide. Version 9.8 delivers targeted but meaningful improvements across security, development tooling, and image building.
🔐 Enhanced Security Capabilities
Security is a headline story in this release. Rocky Linux 9.8 ships with OpenSSH 9.9, a significant jump from the previous 8.7, bringing a broad set of security fixes and protocol improvements.
GnuTLS 3.8.10 is particularly noteworthy: it introduces support for ML-KEM hybrid key exchange and ML-DSA post-quantum digital signature algorithms — a clear signal that Rocky Linux is preparing for the post-quantum era well ahead of it arriving at scale.
p11-kit 0.26.1 also adds PKCS #11 definitions aligned with post-quantum standards, and fapolicyd 1.4.3 introduces rule filtering for more granular application execution policy management.
💻 Application Software & Development Environments
Developers gain access to substantially newer versions of core application stacks:
These are not incremental bumps — PostgreSQL 18 and Ruby 4.0 in particular represent major upstream milestones, giving Enterprise Linux platform users access to modern ecosystems while retaining the long-term stability guarantees Rocky Linux is known for.
🛠️ Compiler & Toolchain Upgrades
The default system toolchain is updated, and optional toolsets give developers even more flexibility:
📦 Image Builder Improvements
The Image Builder tool receives several practical enhancements in 9.8:
Advanced disk partitioning Kickstart ISO injection WSL2 image support Cleaner AWS & KVM images
The addition of WSL2 image building support is a standout: Rocky Linux deployments on Windows Subsystem for Linux will now be significantly easier to set up and distribute. For AWS and KVM cloud images, a cleaner layout is achieved by no longer creating a separate /boot partition by default. Kickstart auto-installation file injection into custom ISOs also simplifies large-scale bare-metal deployment pipelines.
⬆️ How to Upgrade
For users already running Rocky Linux 9.x, upgrading is a single command:
Users on GNOME or KDE desktops can alternatively use GNOME Software or KDE Discover for a graphical upgrade experience. Note that cross-major-version online upgrades are not supported — Rocky Linux 8 users must perform a fresh installation to move to Rocky Linux 9. Users migrating from other Enterprise Linux 9 distributions can use the migrate2rocky tool.
📅 Support Lifecycle Through 2032
🚀 Rocky Linux 10.2 Development Underway
Alongside the 9.8 release, the Rocky Linux community has kicked off work on Rocky Linux 10.2, tracking RHEL 10.2. As of publication, the 10.2 branch is in the active build phase — packages and installation images have not yet entered public testing, so those eager to try it will need to wait a little longer before preview builds become available.
📝 Summary
Rocky Linux 9.8 is a maintenance release that punches above its version number. Post-quantum cryptography groundwork, substantial application stack refreshes (PostgreSQL 18, Ruby 4.0, MariaDB 11.8, Node.js 24), a comprehensive toolchain overhaul reaching GCC 15.2 and Rust 1.92, and practical Image Builder enhancements — including WSL2 support — collectively make this a compelling update for enterprise deployments and developer workstations alike.
Combined with support running through May 2032 and the early momentum of Rocky Linux 10.2 development, the project demonstrates continued health and long-term viability as the leading community RHEL-compatible distribution.
