Release cadence

A new major version of Amazon Linux is released every two years and includes five years of support. Each release includes
support in two phases. The standard support phase covers the first two years. Next, a maintenance phase continues
support for an additional three years.

In the standard support phase, the release receives quarterly minor version updates. During the maintenance
phase, a release receives only security updates and critical bug fixes that are published as soon as they’re
available.

Year
Amazon Linux 2023
Amazon Linux 2025
Amazon Linux 2027
Amazon Linux 2029

2023
Standard support

2024
Standard support

2025
Maintenance
Standard support

2026
Maintenance
Standard support

2027
Maintenance
Maintenance
Standard support

2028
EOL
Maintenance
Standard support

2029
EOL
Maintenance
Maintenance
Standard support

2030
EOL
EOL
Maintenance
Standard support

2031
EOL
EOL
Maintenance
Maintenance

Major and minor releases

With every Amazon Linux release (major version, minor version, or a security release), we release a new Linux Amazon
Machine Image (AMI).

• Major version release— Includes new features and improvements in
  security and performance across the stack. The improvements might include major changes to the kernel, toolchain,
  Glib C, OpenSSL, and any other system libraries and utilities. Major releases of
  Amazon Linux are based in part on the current version of the upstream Fedora Linux distribution. AWS might add or replace
  specific packages from other non-Fedora upstreams.

• Minor version release— A quarterly update that includes security
  updates, bug fixes, and new features and packages. Each minor version is a cumulative list of updates that includes
  security and bug fixes in addition to new features and packages. These releases might include latest language
  runtimes, such as PHP. They might also include other popular software packages such as Ansible and
  Docker.

Consuming new releases

Updates are provided through a combination of new Amazon Machine Image (AMI) releases and corresponding new
repositories. By default, a new AMI and the repository that it points to are coupled. However, you can point your
running Amazon EC2 instances to newer repository versions over time to apply updates on the running instances. You can
also update by launching new instances of the latest AMIs.

Long-term support policy

Amazon Linux provides updates for all of your packages and maintains compatibility within a major version for your
applications that are built on Amazon Linux. Core packages such as the glibc library, OpenSSL,
OpenSSH, and the DNF package manager receive support for the lifetime of the major
AL2023 release. Packages that aren’t part of the core packages are supported based on their specific upstream
sources. You can see the specific support status and dates of individual packages by running the following
command.

$ sudo dnf supportinfo --pkg packagename

You can get information on all currently installed packages by running the following command.

$ sudo dnf supportinfo --show installed

The full list of core packages is finalized during the preview. If you want to see more packages included as core
packages, tell us. We evaluate as we are collecting feedback. Feedback on AL2023 can be provided through your
designated AWS representative or by filing an issue in the amazon-linux-2023 repo on GitHub.