What happens when you have a server running a Linux distribution that's reached its end of life? Typically you migrate that server over to a newer release, and hope everything goes well. But what about those instances when you either don't have the time to make the switch or you know the software on the current platform isn't supported on the newer release? You desperately hold on to that deployment, trying to figure out a way to get updates, even with the EOL status.

That's where CloudLinux comes into play. The company responsible for AlmaLinux (a 1:1 binary compatible distribution with RHEL) has started offering Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS) support beyond EOL for some distributions. Here's what they currently offer:

• ELS for CentOS 6 to June 2024.
• ELS for Oracle Linux 6 starting February 2021 to February 2025

CloudLinux is also working on ELS support for Ubuntu 16 (set to expire April 2021) and Debian 9 (set to expire June 2022).

Igor Seletskiy, CEO and founder of CloudLinux, had this to say about why they're offering ELS support, "At CloudLinux we realized that a large volume of Linux users are at risk...relying on unsupported operating systems (OS). That is, unless these users rapidly move to an alternative OS which is not necessarily practical."

The ELS updates will include the kernel and other necessary packages like Apache, PHP, MySQL, GLibc, OpenSSL, and OpenSSH.

To find out more about CloudLinux ELS support (such as cost), check out their official Extended Lifecycle Support page.