Ensuring Continued Support for CentOS 7 Beyond End of Life

June 30, 2024 marked the official end-of-life (EOL) for CentOS 7 – ending all official updates and fixes. Organizations running CentOS now need a form of CentOS extended support to keep systems secure beyond this EOL date. CentOS extended support refers to continuing critical patches and support for CentOS after the community stops updates. Fortunately, SUSE offers an alternative solution to keep your CentOS 7 environments protected post-EOL, ensuring compatibility with your existing setup.

Fortunately, SUSE offers an alternative solution to keep your CentOS 7 systems secure and operational, ensuring 100% compatibility with your existing APIs and application binary interfaces (ABIs).

Let’s dive deeper into how SUSE can support CentOS 7 after its end of life date. We’ll cover:

• Backporting fixes in the CentOS code
• Maintaining compatibility with APIs and ABIs
• Features and benefits of SUSE Liberty Linux

Backporting Fixes: SUSE’s Proven Approach

To support CentOS 7 beyond EOL, SUSE employs a strategy of backporting fixes into the CentOS code. This approach is tried and tested; we have been successfully backporting as a core strategy for our own SUSE software. 

Backporting involves taking security patches and updates from newer software versions and applying them to older ones. This method ensures that any newly discovered vulnerabilities are promptly addressed without requiring major upgrades, thereby avoiding potential disruptions. Backporting security patches is part of SUSE’s comprehensive CentOS 7 extended support, ensuring a stable CentOS future.

Maintaining Compatibility: API and ABI Assurance

A critical feature of SUSE Liberty Linux is maintaining 100% compatibility of APIs and ABIs. When we backport fixes, we ensure that these interfaces remain unchanged, so your applications continue to run smoothly without any modifications. Gain peace of mind, knowing your crucial CentOS 7 systems will function as expected without any business disruptions.

SUSE Liberty Linux

SUSE Liberty Linux combined with SUSE Manager provides a unified solution for managing all Linux environments. With SUSE Liberty Linux, you receive trusted support along with optional, proven management tools optimized for Linux environments, including CentOS. The three pillars of SUSE Liberty Linux are:

• Enterprise-Grade Support: SUSE Liberty Linux offers enterprise-grade support for your entire Linux environment, including CentOS distros, from a world-class technical support team. You have access to support 24/7/365 via chat, email, or phone, with follow-the-sun support in local languages. The support package includes guaranteed business-critical SLAs and ongoing communication from problem identification to resolution. This ensures that your CentOS 7 support needs are met comprehensively.
• Management Tools that Automate: SUSE Liberty Linux works seamlessly with SUSE Manager as an optional automation and management tool. This integration simplifies and streamlines your Linux environment, from core to cloud and edge. SUSE Manager provides a single pane of glass for monitoring, driving efficiencies by automating routine tasks and integrating smart automation. This mitigates resource constraints and the time required for system deployment and updates, even in complex DevOps scenarios. It’s ideal for CentOS 7 maintenance and ensuring the future of your systems.
• Zero Migration, Complete Compatibility: With SUSE Liberty Linux, no migration is required. Its compatibility with CentOS allows you to keep your existing infrastructure. The transition is simple: remove Red Hat patch repositories and install SUSE channels. This ensures stability and functionality, letting you focus on core business activities without disruption. You’ll receive consolidated maintenance patches, security updates and world-class support from a single provider, ensuring high availability, resilient storage, and reliable load balancing. Your applications and workloads will continue to operate as designed, and you’ll be ready for the future of CentOS environments.

With over 30 years of enterprise Linux experience, SUSE is uniquely positioned to provide extended support and maintenance for CentOS 7. Our history of innovation and commitment to open source principles ensure that your CentOS 7 systems remain secure and operational well beyond the official EOL date.

SUSE Liberty Linux simplifies the management of your mixed IT infrastructure by consolidating support under one partner with rich Linux expertise. As part of SUSE’s open, interoperable strategy, SUSE Liberty Linux offers the simplicity, choice and flexibility you need without the cost and constraints of vendor lock-in.

Don’t let the end of CentOS 7 support disrupt your operations. Contact SUSE today to learn more about our support solutions and how we can help you maintain a secure and reliable IT environment.

CentOS Support FAQs

Is CentOS 7 still supported after EOL?

Official CentOS 7 support ended on June 30, 2024. However, organizations can continue receiving security patches and enterprise support through SUSE Multi-Linux Support, ensuring workloads remain secure and compliant while you plan your long-term Linux strategy.

How does SUSE’s CentOS extended support work?

With SUSE Multi-Linux Support, you get access to enterprise-grade support, security updates, and patching for CentOS 7 even after EOL. This enables you to maintain business continuity and reduce risk while evaluating migration options at your own pace.

Do I need to migrate from CentOS 7?

While extended support helps bridge the gap, migration planning is highly recommended. Running on an EOL distribution carries long-term risks. With SUSE’s solutions, you can smoothly transition workloads to a supported enterprise Linux while keeping operations stable during the move.

Can I manage CentOS with SUSE tools?

Yes. SUSE provides lifecycle management, patching, compliance monitoring, and automation for CentOS, along with other Linux distributions. This gives IT teams a single pane of glass to manage mixed Linux environments securely and efficiently.