WHM & cPanel CentOS7 and AlmaLinux 8

[Ocean West]

Just saw this when I logged in to my server. Just curious anyone migrate and any issues with IPB?

cPanel & WHM version 110 will be the last version that supports CentOS 7. Support for version 110 will end June 30, 2024. We encourage you to migrate to an AlmaLinux 8 or CloudLinux™ 8 server before June 30, 2024. For more information, read our cPanel Deprecation Plan documentation.

[Tracy Perry]

Think that's when CentOS 7 official support ends also.  

I personally use AlmaLinux 8 and have had no issues with it (I'm running XF and not IPS any longer) along with the BETA version of CentMinMod script.  I would not expect IPS to work any differently, as it didn't when I had 4.3 running on CentOS 7 (also using CentMinMod).

If I remember correctly, there is a planned "upgrade" path being worked on (if not already finished) to cleanly move a site from CentOS 7 to AlmaLinux 8.  Then the cPanel upgrade should be no issues.

Edited March 9, 2023 by Tracy Perry

[Grafidea]

I recommend switching to Almalinux 9 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

[Tracy Perry]

32 minutes ago, Grafidea said:

I recommend switching to Almalinux 9 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Considering that AlmaLinux 8 doesn't reach EOL until 2029, why?

And there's a difference in Ubuntu and AlmaLinux (Redhat vs Debian).  I personally no longer enjoy fighting with Debian (and it's shorter life-cycles) nor with Ubuntu and some of it's issues.

More of the software packages are available under AlmaLinux 8 than 9.  And yes, you gain 3 years before EOL in AlmaLinux 9, but honestly, how many will still be on the SAME hardware in 6 years to begin with?

Personally, for me (after over a decade of running VPS's and dedicated servers on the wild internet) I prefer known stability.

Edited March 9, 2023 by Tracy Perry

[Grafidea]

Oddly enough, most hosting companies are moving their services to Ubuntu. Most hosting panels also have first-class support for ubuntu/debian and only in the second round AlmaLinux. Which proves that there are fewer AlmaLinux users.

[Tracy Perry]

12 minutes ago, Grafidea said:

Oddly enough, most hosting companies are moving their services to Ubuntu. Most hosting panels also have first-class support for ubuntu/debian and only in the second round AlmaLinux. Which proves that there are fewer AlmaLinux users.

And oddly... most VPS's and dedicated servers aren't controlled by what hosting companies want to force on you.

That's the benefit of being on a dedicated server or VPS.

As for AlmaLinux... been using it for for a while now... and since it's basically a "knock-off" of CentOS/RedHat it's not that "new" to the game.  It's 1:1 binary compatible to RHEL (which is a long time standard in Linux serving).

One of the other main differences is the licensing.  AlmaLinux is under GPLv2 and Ubuntu is under BSD-3 Clause (which is important to some).

In my experience, the boot-time on the server instance is faster with AlmaLinux than Ubuntu.  There are a few more steps to installing AlmaLinux than Ubuntu, but the main reason of that is that AlmaLinux does not try to shove the kitchen sink at you during setup when compared to Ubuntu 22.04LTS.  I have found I much prefer to pick what packages I want installed instead of relying on someone else to tell me what I need.

BTW, ever hear of CloudIinux?  Some folks prefer Rocky Linux, but I've played with some of Cloud Linux's stuff in the past when I was running dedicated server hardware and was impressed.

 

Edited March 9, 2023 by Tracy Perry

[Grafidea]

Yes, cloudlinux is paid and is one of the main founders/sponsors of Almalinux. When I was setting up my server, I tested both ubuntu 20.04 and AlmaLinux 8 and ubuntu started faster, additionally it caused less problems when installing the PLESK panel than AlmaLinux. On newer machines, in my opinion, Ubuntu performs much better due to the fact that it has newer packages and core.

[Tracy Perry]

2 hours ago, Grafidea said:

Yes, cloudlinux is paid and is one of the main founders/sponsors of Almalinux. When I was setting up my server, I tested both ubuntu 20.04 and AlmaLinux 8 and ubuntu started faster, additionally it caused less problems when installing the PLESK panel than AlmaLinux.

I've found (for startup) the opposite... of course, I'm not dependent on a web based panel to control my VPS instance.  😉

I tend to target maximal performance... and have found (for me) that Ubuntu/Debian lags behind, especially since I'm not dependent upon a panel for controlling my server instance.  Personally, to me, control panels are actually a bane, since when something messes up, most that use them can't "fight their way out of a bag" when trying to figure out how to resolve the issue.  If it's not "point & click" they don't have ANY idea as how the system works.

Before I started using CentMin Mod, I rolled my own nginx solution... and it was ALWAYS faster than any web based control panel solution (specifically on CentOS when compared to Debian).... the ONLY exception (and it did NOT involve a web based control panel) was with LightSpeed...but the small increment in performance didn't outweigh the costs involved when for me when compared to ngnix.
I don't depend on a panel to provide/interface with domain related email. since most times delivery from a VPS/dedicated/shared hosting sucks to many mail providers (looking straight at Microsoft).  I prefer to utilize Amazon SES and it's increased deliverability, so I never found the need for point/click that most panels provide.
I've never had any "major" issues with upgrades updates... but of the two (RHEL/Debian) versions, it was ALWAYS the Debian line that I had more issues with over the last decade.

Edited March 9, 2023 by Tracy Perry

[Tracy Perry]

Oh, forgot to mention.. been playing with Linux since 1994... so it's not really a "new" thing for me.  First exposure was with Slackware 1.2... which was only released about 3 decades ago.  😎