THE.Hosting supports several versions of CentOS on dedicated servers: 6, 7, 8, 8 Stream, 9 Stream. Installation is automatic — choose during ordering or reinstall through the panel.
Let's break down what this distribution is, how the versions differ, and what to install for a new project.
Where CentOS Came From
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is an enterprise system with a long support cycle and official certification for commercial software. It's expensive: a subscription is required. CentOS took the RHEL source code, removed Red Hat trademarks, and released it for free. The result was a clone with the same compatibility but without the price tag.
The server world reacted predictably — CentOS became the standard for production infrastructure for about a decade. Hosting providers, data centers, enterprise developers — everyone built on it.
Problems started in 2020-2021. Red Hat announced a model change: CentOS Linux as a downstream RHEL clone would cease to exist, replaced by CentOS Stream as an upstream branch. This was a serious blow to those who built infrastructure counting on CentOS 8's long lifecycle. In response, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux emerged — alternative clones created by the community and businesses to fill the gap.
Why It's Still Relevant
Specific scenarios where CentOS still makes sense:
Commercial software certified for RHEL/CentOS. Oracle databases, SAP, ERP systems, specialized products — these are tested on RHEL and CentOS. When documentation says "supported on RHEL/CentOS" — that means exactly that, not Ubuntu.
cPanel. The hosting control panel officially runs on CentOS 7 and AlmaLinux 8/9. It's not available on other CentOS versions.
Migrating existing infrastructure. Moving from another server where everything is already configured for CentOS 7 — it makes sense to reproduce the same setup rather than reconfigure for a different system.
RPM ecosystem. If your team works with yum/dnf and knows RHEL — there's no reason to retrain.
Build specifics. Sometimes an application was simply built and tested on CentOS — a Docker image, Ansible playbook, internal deploy script. Porting to another distribution requires checking every step.
What Each Version Represents
CentOS 6. EOL in November 2020. No security patches. Available for installation, but only if there's a specific reason — compatibility with very old software. Don't use for anything new.
CentOS 7. Support ended in June 2024. Before that — the most widespread version in server environments for years. Still alive for legacy systems. For new projects, look at AlmaLinux.
CentOS 8. The story here got ugly: in December 2021 Red Hat drastically shortened CentOS 8's lifecycle from 2029 to end of 2021. Essentially a forced migration to CentOS Stream. No security patches since 2022. Don't touch it.
CentOS 8 Stream. No longer a downstream RHEL clone, but an upstream branch. Updates arrive before RHEL — meaning it's more like a beta version of what will eventually become RHEL. Packages are fresher, but predictability is worse. Not suitable for production with conservative requirements.
CentOS 9 Stream. The current branch. Based on RHEL 9, systemd 252, Python 3.11. Updated in rolling mode. If you need the RHEL ecosystem with a current stack and are comfortable with the rolling approach — this is an option.
What to Install for a New Project
If there's no dependency on a specific CentOS version — look at AlmaLinux. It's the direct successor to CentOS 8 with binary compatibility with RHEL. AlmaLinux 9 has support until 2032. THE.Hosting servers have AlmaLinux 8 and 9 available.
Rocky Linux is a similar story with a different development team. Also binary compatible with RHEL, also actively maintained.
AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux — the difference is minimal. Both projects emerged as a response to Red Hat's decision on CentOS 8. Both are commercially funded and supported. The choice between them is more a matter of team preference than technical differences.
Choose CentOS 7 only if you have specific software certified for it. But plan your migration immediately.
Migrating from CentOS to AlmaLinux
If your server is already running CentOS 7 or CentOS 8, moving to AlmaLinux doesn't necessarily mean reinstalling from scratch and losing data. There are tools for conversion directly on a running system.
For CentOS 7 — the ELevate tool from the AlmaLinux project. It upgrades the system to AlmaLinux 8 without reinstalling: replaces repositories, updates the package base, migrates the bootloader. The process takes 30 to 90 minutes depending on the number of installed packages. Before migration, ELevate runs a preupgrade check and produces a list of potential conflicts to resolve manually.
For CentOS 8 there's the migrate2almalinux script. It also works without stopping services — changes repositories and switches the system to AlmaLinux 8 without data loss. Execution time is 15-30 minutes.
What's important to do before any migration: take a full snapshot or backup, record the list of installed packages and third-party repositories, check compatibility of critical applications with the target AlmaLinux version. If the server is in production — test on a copy first.
After migration the system retains all data, configurations, and user settings. nginx, apache, databases don't need reconfiguration — configs stay in place. Only the package base and Red Hat root certificates change to AlmaLinux ones.
How It Works on THE.Hosting Servers
You choose the OS when ordering. After payment — automatic installation, the server activates in half an hour. SSH access credentials arrive by email.
Reinstallation later — also through the panel, without contacting support. Choose the required version from the catalog, launch it. Takes 10-20 minutes. Data is not preserved during reinstallation — make a backup first.
First Steps After Receiving the Server
Update the system:
yum update -yFor CentOS 8 Stream / 9 Stream:
dnf update -yCheck and configure firewalld:
systemctl status firewalld
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
firewall-cmd --reloadSELinux is enabled by default. If it causes conflicts with applications:
sestatus
setenforce 0For permanent disabling — in /etc/selinux/config change SELINUX=enforcing to SELINUX=disabled.
EPEL repository for additional packages:
yum install epel-release -yFor 8 Stream / 9 Stream:
dnf install epel-release -yFrequently Asked Questions
CentOS or AlmaLinux? For a new project — AlmaLinux, unless there's a specific reason to choose CentOS. AlmaLinux 9 has long-term support until 2032, binary compatibility with RHEL 9. CentOS makes sense where there's a commercially certified product or existing infrastructure being migrated.
Can I reinstall from CentOS to AlmaLinux? Yes, through the control panel. 10-20 minutes, data is not preserved. Alternatively — you can use the migrate2almalinux tool for conversion without reinstalling if you don't want to lose data.
Does cPanel work on CentOS? Official support — CentOS 7 and AlmaLinux 8/9. On CentOS 8 and Stream — no. If you need cPanel — CentOS 7 or AlmaLinux.
Will CentOS 7 work after June 2024? Technically — yes. But no security patches. For publicly accessible systems — a risk. Migration to AlmaLinux is automated through ELevate.
SELinux on CentOS at THE.Hosting? Delivered in standard configuration. Management is entirely on the user's side — full root access.
Choose a dedicated server with CentOS: https://the.hosting/en/server
For configuration questions — support@the.hosting or Telegram @thehosting_sale.