{"id":82739,"date":"2026-04-08T17:50:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T21:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/?p=82739"},"modified":"2026-04-08T17:51:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T21:51:00","slug":"almalinux-8-vs-almalinux-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/almalinux-8-vs-almalinux-9\/","title":{"rendered":"AlmaLinux 8 vs AlmaLinux 9: What Changed and Should You Upgrade?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"AlmaLinux<\/figure>\n\n\n

When Red Hat discontinued CentOS as a free, stable downstream distribution in 2020, AlmaLinux emerged as one of the leading RHEL-compatible alternatives. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n

Major Differences Between Almalinux 8 And Almalinux 9<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kernel and Core System Updates
<\/strong>AlmaLinux 9 ships with Linux kernel 5.14, a significant jump from AlmaLinux 8’s kernel 4.18. This newer kernel brings improved hardware support, better performance for modern CPUs (including latest gen Intel and AMD processors), and enhanced security features like kernel lockdown mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kernel upgrade matters most if you’re running newer server hardware or need support for recent storage controllers, network adapters, or GPU acceleration for workloads like machine learning inference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security Enhancements
<\/strong>AlmaLinux 9 includes OpenSSL 3.0, which deprecates several older cryptographic algorithms and ciphers. If your applications rely on SHA-1 signatures or legacy TLS configurations, you’ll need to update them before migrating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SELinux policies in AlmaLinux 9 are more restrictive by default, which improves security but may require policy adjustments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Package and Toolchain Changes
<\/strong>\u2022 Python: AlmaLinux 9 ships with Python 3.9 as default, with Python 3.11 available
\u2022 GCC: Upgraded from GCC 8.5 to GCC 11
\u2022 PHP: Drops PHP 7.2\/7.3, offers PHP 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2
\u2022 PostgreSQL: Includes PostgreSQL 13 as default, with PostgreSQL 15 available<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Removed and Deprecated Packages
<\/strong>\u2022 NTP replaced by Chrony
\u2022 MySQL 5.7 removed (use MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB)
\u2022 iptables redirected to nftables
\u2022 Python 2 completely removed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should You Upgrade?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Upgrade to AlmaLinux 9 if you’re running newer hardware, need long-term support until 2032, have applications compatible with the newer stack, or want improved security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stick with AlmaLinux 8 if you’re running legacy applications dependent on Python 3.6, PHP 7.4, or MySQL 5.7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Running AlmaLinux on InMotion Hosting? Our VPS and dedicated server plans<\/a> support both versions with full root access and optional migration assistance through Launch Assist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Red Hat discontinued CentOS as a free, stable downstream distribution in 2020, AlmaLinux emerged as one of the leading RHEL-compatible alternatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nAlmaLinux 8 vs 9: Key Differences and Should You Upgrade?" | InMotion Hosting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Comparing AlmaLinux 8 vs 9: kernel updates, security enhancements, package changes, and migration considerations. 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