FAQ: Alibaba Cloud Linux

Features

• Is there a charge for running Alibaba Cloud Linux on ECS?

  No. The Alibaba Cloud Linux image is free, but you must pay for other resources, such as your ECS instances.

• Which ECS instance types does Alibaba Cloud Linux support?

  Alibaba Cloud Linux supports most ECS instance types, including ECS Bare Metal Instance types.

  Note

  Alibaba Cloud Linux does not support instances that use the Xen virtualization platform.

• Does Alibaba Cloud Linux support 32-bit applications and libraries?

  No, 32-bit applications and libraries are not supported.

• Does Alibaba Cloud Linux support a graphical user interface (GUI)?

  GUI support is not guaranteed. To install one, follow the steps in Install a GUI for a Linux instance.

• How do I deploy Alibaba Cloud Linux 4 Agentic Edition?

  Agentic OS is an agent-enhanced operating system built on Alibaba Cloud Linux 4, fully compatible with all Alibaba Cloud Linux 4 capabilities.

  Official product documentation: Product overview

  Cloud deployment: Getting Started

  On-premises deployment: https://github.com/alibaba/anolisa

  Additional questions: Agentic OS FAQ.

• Can I view the source code of Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 components?

  Yes. Download source packages using the yumdownloader tool or from Alibaba Cloud Open Source. The kernel source tree is available on GitHub.

• Is Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 backward compatible with previous versions of Aliyun Linux?

  Yes. Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 is fully compatible with Aliyun Linux 17.01.

  Note

  Custom-compiled kernel modules may need recompilation on Alibaba Cloud Linux 2.

• What third-party applications can run on Alibaba Cloud Linux 2?

  Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 is binary compatible with CentOS 7.6.1810 and supports applications that run on CentOS 7.

  Advantages over CentOS and RHEL:

  • Faster release cycles with updated kernels and user-space software.

  • Works out-of-the-box with minimal configuration.

  • Tightly integrated with Alibaba Cloud infrastructure for optimal performance.

  • No runtime charges (unlike RHEL) and includes commercial support (unlike CentOS).

• How does Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 ensure data security?

  Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 is binary compatible with CentOS 7.6.1810/RHEL 7.6 and adheres to RHEL security standards:

  • Regular security scans using industry-standard vulnerability scanning tools.

  • Regular CVE patches from CentOS 7 to fix OS security vulnerabilities.

  • Supports Alibaba Cloud OS security-hardening solutions.

  • Uses the same mechanism as CentOS 7 for security alerts and hot patches.

• Does Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 support data encryption?

  Yes. Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 retains the CentOS 7 data encryption toolkit and supports encryption solutions compatible with CentOS 7 and KMS.

• How do I configure permissions in Alibaba Cloud Linux 2?

  Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 derives from CentOS 7 and uses identical permission settings. CentOS 7 administrators can use the same management commands without changes.

Known issues

Usage issues