CentOS 7 operating system will no longer receive any software updates. CentOS has reached end of life. This news has been coming for some time. However, many IT organizations are still evaluating the best path for securing and operating their CentOS workloads following the official end of support.
CIQ, the exclusive provider of Rocky Linux solutions to Google Cloud, is working with Google to ensure customers have a secure solution readily available to safeguard existing CentOS workloads on Google Cloud. Google is recommending customers use CIQ Bridge, which provides customers with an immediate solution for CentOS deployments while providing a potential long-term solution in migrating to Rocky Linux in the future.
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Google Cloud recently updated its “CentOS end of support guidance,” advising customers impacted by CentOS EOL to pursue CIQ Bridge as a viable solution for maintaining existing CentOS workloads, stating in the post: “To receive CentOS technical support for your Google Cloud workloads, we recommend the following option: CIQ Bridge.”
CIQ Bridge was launched this year to provide customers with a long-term support service to ensure their CentOS 7 systems remain secure, compliant and fully operational past end of life. This enables customers to secure their existing environments while also providing a clear migration path to Rocky Linux. It is offered under an annual, fixed-rate subscription and includes access to CentOS 7 extended life package updates for an additional three years and security updates for CVSS 7 issues and above. Security updates for CVSS 5 and 6 are available at an elevated subscription tier. CIQ Bridge is designed to support CentOS 7 users until they are ready for CIQ guidance and support in migration to Rocky Linux.
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When Red Hat announced in December 2020 that it was ending support for CentOS Linux, the operating system was one of the most widely used among professional IT teams in government, enterprise, manufacturing and finance industries, with hundreds of thousands of organizations relying on the platform. Unfortunately many have yet to make the transition, with Enlyft reporting that over 360,000 companies still use CentOS. Although many organizations have already successfully migrated to Rocky Linux (developed in 2021 as an alternative to CentOS) or other Linux OS alternatives, some organizations are finding it difficult to do so before June 30 for a variety of reasons, including compliance issues, talent shortages and lags in budgetary cycles, among others.
CIQ Bridge contains a global repository of all of the necessary CentOS packages, security patches and updates needed to ensure existing environments remain fully operational. In partnership with Google, CIQ is committed to helping Google Cloud customers by providing promotional discounts for CentOS 7 long term support.
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