Amazon Linux

Amazon Linux 2 is a Linux operating system from Amazon Web Services (AWS). It provides a security-focused, stable, and high-performance execution environment to develop and run cloud applications. Amazon Linux 2 is provided at no additional charge. AWS provides ongoing security and maintenance updates for Amazon Linux 2.

Features

• AWS integration - Amazon Linux 2 includes packages and configurations that provide tight integration with many Amazon Web Services (AWS) services. Amazon Linux 2 comes with many AWS tools (e.g. AWS CLI) and cloud-init. These tools are designed to simplify the scripting of common administration tasks from within an instance and enable remote configuration of instances.
• Long term support - Amazon Linux 2 comes with long-term support that includes security updates and bug fixes for 5 years.
• Extras repository for bleeding edge software - Extras in Amazon Linux 2 provides you with bleeding edge software on a stable base of Amazon Linux 2. You no longer need to tradeoff stability for software freshness.
• On-premises use - Amazon Linux 2 is available as a virtual machine image for on-premises use, enabling you to easily develop, test, and certify applications from a local development environment.
• Systemd support - Amazon Linux 2 includes the widely adopted systemd init system which is used to bootstrap the user space as well as manage system processes.
• EC2 optimized kernel & toolchain - Amazon Linux 2 includes newer version of compiler and build toolchain and LTS Kernel tuned for enhanced performance on Amazon EC2.
• Secure by default - Amazon Linux 2 limits remote access by using SSH key pairs and by disabling remote root login. Additionally, Amazon Linux 2 reduces the number of non-critical packages which are installed on an instance, limiting exposure to potential security vulnerabilities. Security updates rated "critical" or "important" are automatically applied on the initial boot.
• Security updates - Security updates are provided via the Amazon Linux 2 yum repositories as well as via updated Amazon Machine Images (AMIs), VM and container images. Security alerts are published in the Amazon Linux AMI Security Center.
• Kernel Live Patching - Amazon Linux 2 includes kernel live patching functionality. This enables you to patch critical and important security vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel without reboot or downtime.