Amazon Linux

Amazon Linux. It is a Linux distribution maintained and provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) for use on its Elastic Compute Cloud platform. Designed as a stable, secure, and high-performance operating system, it is optimized specifically for the AWS cloud environment. The distribution provides long-term support and seamless integration with core AWS services to facilitate application deployment and management.

Overview

The initial release was made available in 2010, coinciding with the growing adoption of Infrastructure as a service models. It is derived from technical components common in Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora, but is built and configured by Amazon's engineers. The primary goal is to offer a consistent and reliable platform for applications running on EC2 instances, AWS Lambda, and Amazon Elastic Container Service. Its development is closely tied to the evolution of the AWS Management Console and underlying Xen and Nitro System hypervisors.

Features

Key characteristics include a hardened Linux kernel with backported security patches and performance enhancements for the AWS infrastructure. It includes the GNU Compiler Collection and tools like systemd for service management. The distribution features automatic security updates via the Amazon Linux Security Center and pre-configured integrations with services such as Amazon CloudWatch and AWS Systems Manager. It supports popular programming languages and runtimes, including Python, Java, Node.js, and Docker containers.

Versions

The first generation, known as Amazon Linux AMI, was supported until 2020. Its successor, Amazon Linux 2, launched in 2017, introduced a systemd init system, extended support until 2025, and offered both RPM Package Manager and Extensible Firmware Interface boot modes. The latest major version, Amazon Linux 2023, announced in 2023, utilizes a Fedora-based lifecycle, a transition to the DNF package manager, and a deterministic update model with a smaller default footprint. Each version receives detailed advisories through the National Vulnerability Database.

Relationship with Other Distributions

While it shares a common heritage with the Red Hat family of distributions, it is an independent project with its own release cadence and repository. It is often compared to other cloud-optimized distributions like Ubuntu from Canonical Ltd., SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from SUSE, and CentOS. Unlike CentOS Stream, it is not a downstream rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux but incorporates selected patches and features from both Fedora and the upstream Linux kernel project. Its repositories are separate from those of the EPEL project.

Use Cases and Deployment

It is predominantly deployed for running scalable web applications, microservices architectures, and big data platforms on AWS. Common workloads include hosting applications built with Apache HTTP Server, Nginx, and Java Platform, Enterprise Edition, as well as data processing with Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark. It is the default operating system for services like AWS Elastic Beanstalk and is widely used for Continuous integration pipelines leveraging AWS CodePipeline. Many Fortune 500 companies utilize it for enterprise applications.

Development and Support

Development is managed internally by Amazon Web Services, with engineering teams collaborating with the broader Open-source software community. Support is included as part of the AWS Support plans, with regular updates provided through the Amazon Linux Security Center. The source code for packages is publicly available on GitHub, adhering to the principles of the GNU General Public License and other open-source agreements. Roadmaps and release notes are published through the official AWS Blog and documentation portals.