As technology evolves, it’s important to keep the underlying systems powering your websites and applications up to date. Our hosting infrastructure is undergoing a significant upgrade, moving from the CentOS / CloudLinux 7 to AlmaLinux / CloudLinux 8 operating system. This upgrade ensures that your hosting environment remains secure, stable, and compatible with the latest software.
For more than a year, we have been diligently preparing for this major upgrade, conducting numerous simulations in our testing environment and developing a well-structured procedure to ensure a safe and seamless transition.
We’ll handle the entire upgrade process for you, but here’s what you need to know as a hosting client:
Why the Upgrade Is Necessary
- End of Life for CentOS 7 and CloudLinux 7: CentOS 7 and CloudLinux 7 no longer receive official updates or security patches since June 2024. Running an unsupported OS normally leaves the server vulnerable to security exploits. TuxCare still delivers vulnerability patches and security fixes on our servers. However, this is only a temporary solution until we upgrade to a newer operating system.
- Modern Features and Support: AlmaLinux 8 and CloudLinux 8 introduce performance enhancements as well as support for newer features and technologies that enhance your user experience and ensure your websites and applications run smoothly.
- Compliance: Many industries require that servers run on supported, patched operating systems to meet regulatory requirements. Staying on an unsupported OS may risk compliance issues.
What to Expect During the Upgrade
We will perform the upgrade on our servers using a tool called ELevate. This process is quite complex and will take approximately 2 to 5 hours. During this time, there will be some impact on the availability of your services.
- Partial or Complete Downtime: Your website and email services may experience partial or complete unavailability for the duration of the upgrade. We recommend planning ahead and notifying your website users or customers about the temporary downtime.
- Scheduled Maintenance: We will strive to schedule the upgrades during low-traffic periods to minimise the impact on your services, although some server upgrades may be scheduled during regular hours as well. You will receive prior notice from us with specific details about when the maintenance will take place. Updates with the latest progress will be posted on our network status page or in the related support ticket if you have a virtual or dedicated server.
- No Action Needed: You don’t need to take any steps to prepare for the upgrade. Our team will handle everything, including making sure your hosting environment is backed up and ready for the transition. As a precaution, if possible, we recommend that customers maintain their own external backups additionally, ensuring an extra layer of protection and quick recovery in case of any unexpected issues with our own backups.
How We Are Managing the Upgrade
Here’s a brief overview of the steps our team will follow during the upgrade:
- Backup Data: Before we begin, we will back up all data on the server, ensuring that we can restore everything if needed.
- Update System Packages: Our administrators will update core system packages to prepare the server for the transition.
- Migrate to AlmaLinux / CloudLinux 8: We will use the ELevate tool to upgrade the operating system from CentOS / CloudLinux 7 to AlmaLinux / CloudLinux 8.
- Test Services: After the upgrade, we will thoroughly test all services to ensure your website, databases, and email systems are running smoothly on the new environment.
- Notify You Upon Completion: Once everything is back online and tested, we will update our network status page that the upgrade is complete.
Conclusion
The transition to AlmaLinux / CloudLinux 8 is an important step to keep your hosting environment secure and optimised for the future. We’ve designed this process to minimise disruption and ensure your services are fully restored as quickly as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our support team — we’re here to help!
Updated by SP on 08/11/2024
