How to migrate from CentOS 8 Linux to AlmaLinux 8

CentOS 8 Linux will be not supported by the end of the year 2021, thus in such case, if you want to migrate your CentOS 8 server to AlmaLinux 8 which is a 1:1 binary compatible with CentOS and RHEL, then here are the steps to follow…

AlmaLinux is a recently launched CentOS 8 Linux alternative by CloudLinux. It is based on RHEL 8, just like CentOS, however, it comes with Long Term Support that has been dropped by RedHat. Therefore, if you want to move from your current CentOS then you can use the commands given here…

Note: Before following the below steps:

• Make sure you have a backup of crucial data or applications.
• Also, you need to turn off Secure boot in BIOS, if that has been activated.

Steps to Migrate and Replace CentOS 8 Linux with AlmaLinux

1. Go to your CentOS and run the system update and upgrade command, to make sure all the packages are up

   sudo dnf update
   sudo dnf upgrade

2.  Install Curl, if you don’t have it:

   sudo dnf install curl

3. Download the CentOS 8 to AlmaLinux migration script.

   curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AlmaLinux/almalinux-deploy/master/almalinux-deploy.sh

4. Run the downloaded script with sudo rights. The below command will download all the necessary packages and will also replace the default CentOS repos, logos, and other things with AlmaLinux.

   sudo bash almalinux-deploy.sh

   

5. Once done, run the command to check the OS-release of your server Linux. The output will show the AlmaLinux details…

   cat /etc/os-release

   

6. To ensure further that the system will automatically boot with AlmaLinux kernel, check the default kernel by running:

   sudo grubby --info DEFAULT | grep AlmaLinux

   Output:

   title="AlmaLinux (4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64) 8.3 (Purple Manul)"