Amazon Linux 2023: Create and execute cloud-based applications with enhanced security
AWS has been offering Amazon Linux, a cloud-optimized Linux distribution, since 2010. This distribution’s latest version is now available.
Amazon Linux 2023 is provided at no additional charge. Standard Amazon EC2 and AWS charges apply for running EC2 instances and other services. This distribution includes full support for five years.
By deploying your workloads on Amazon Linux 2023, you can enjoy three advantages: a robust security standard, a dependable lifecycle, and a uniform update process.
The latest version includes preconfigured security policies that make it easy to implement standard industry guidelines. You can configure these policies at launch time or run time.
Security
One of the noteworthy features is its preconfigured security policies that allow you to adhere to widely recognized industry guidelines. These policies can be set up either at the time of launch or during runtime.
As an illustration, the system crypto policy can be configured to enforce the use of particular cipher suites, TLS versions, or acceptable certificate and key exchange parameters throughout the system. Additionally, the Linux kernel comes with various hardening features that are activated by default.
Operating system lifecycle
With Amazon Linux, you can streamline the process of strategizing and overseeing the lifecycle of your operating system. The release schedule for major versions of the OS has been set to occur every two years. These major releases incorporate advancements in security, performance, and new features throughout the system stack. This may entail significant updates to the kernel, toolchain, GLib C, OpenSSL, and other system libraries and utilities.
Updates
Amazon Linux 2023 offers a reliable and predictable update experience using versioned repositories and a consistent update mechanism. By locking onto a particular version of its package repository, the distribution grants you the autonomy to decide when and how to integrate updates, providing a flexible update process.
How to get started with Amazon Linux 2023
Starting with Amazon Linux 2023 is the same as with other Linux distributions. You can use the EC2 run-instances API, the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI), the AWS Management Console, and one of the four provided Amazon Linux 2023 AMIs.
AWS supports two machine architectures (x86_64 and Arm) and two sizes (standard and minimal). Minimal AMIs contain the essential tools and utilities to start the OS. The standard version comes with the most commonly used applications and tools installed.