What is EuroLinux?

EuroLinux is a distribution derived from the sources of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), designed to offer a stable, secure and cost-effective platform for enterprise-grade workloads. It follows the principles of open source software, providing binary compatibility with RHEL while adding its own improvements and extended support options. EuroLinux aims to serve organizations that require the reliability and certifications of RHEL without the need to subscribe to Red Hat’s commercial support.

Definition and Purpose

EuroLinux can be defined as a commercially supported enterprise operating system built on the proven RHEL codebase. Its core purpose is to deliver:

• Binary Compatibility with RHEL, ensuring that applications certified for RHEL run unmodified on EuroLinux.
• Extended Long-Term Support far beyond the upstream lifecycle, with custom security patches and bug fixes.
• Cost-Effective Licensing capable of fitting within constrained budgets without sacrificing enterprise features.
• Local European Support via a network of authorized partners, with SLA-backed response times.

History and Origins

EuroLinux emerged in response to the changing landscape around CentOS and the desire for a community-driven project that remains binary compatible with RHEL. Key milestones include:

• 2010: Initial discussions about a European alternative to CentOS.
• 2013: First public release of EuroLinux, based on RHEL 6 sources.
• 2017: Introduction of professional support subscriptions and training programs.
• 2020: Launch of EuroLinux 8, aligning with RHEL 8 features such as Application Streams.
• 2022: Release of EuroLinux 9, enhancing container support and adding real-time kernel options.

How EuroLinux Works

EuroLinux inherits the architecture and package management model from RHEL, ensuring seamless migration and integration. Its operation can be broken down into several layers:

Based on RHEL

EuroLinux synchronizes its repositories with the publicly available RHEL source code. This approach guarantees that every security update, bug fix, and feature backported to RHEL is also available in EuroLinux.

Package Management

Central to EuroLinux is its RPM-based package manager, supplemented by the DNF frontend.

RPM and DNF

RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) handles the installation, upgrade, querying and removal of software packages. DNF serves as a modern dependency resolver and package installer, replacing the older YUM tool. Together they provide:

• Advanced dependency resolution.
• Modular repositories through Application Streams.
• Rollback capabilities via dnf history.

Repositories

EuroLinux distributes its software via multiple repositories:

• BaseOS: Core operating system packages.
• AppStream: Additional modules for databases, languages, and frameworks.
• CRB (CodeReady Builder): Development tools and libraries.
• HighAvailability: Packages for cluster management.
• Realtime: Real-time kernel and libraries.
• Supplementary: Hardware enablement and niche components.

Kernel and System Components

EuroLinux includes the standard RHEL kernel, with optional real-time patches and backported enhancements.

Custom Patches

While maintaining complete source parity with RHEL, EuroLinux applies additional patches to improve performance on European enterprise networks. These include:

• Enhanced network stack for low-latency financial applications.
• Filesystem optimizations for distributed storage solutions.
• Updated hardware drivers for regionally prevalent server platforms.

Security Features

Security is a cornerstone of EuroLinux. It integrates:

• SELinux: Enforced by default in targeted policy mode.
• OpenSCAP: Framework for compliance scans against standards such as PCI-DSS and GDPR.
• FirewallD: Dynamic firewall management with zone-based rules.
• Regular CVE Patching: Rapid response team delivering backported fixes.

Orientation and Target Audience

EuroLinux is engineered to meet the needs of various sectors, from large corporations to public institutions.

Enterprise Environments

Large data centers and multinational corporations rely on EuroLinux for:

• High Availability: Clustering, load balancing and disaster recovery solutions.
• Scalability: From small pods to hundreds of servers in a single cluster.
• Certification Support: ISV certifications for SAP, Oracle, IBM software, and more.

Educational and Public Sector

Universities, research labs and government agencies favor EuroLinux due to:

• Open Source Licensing: No vendor lock-in and full audit transparency.
• GDPR Compliance Tools: Preconfigured templates for data protection audits.
• Cost Control: Predictable subscription fees and minimal licensing overhead.

Small and Medium Businesses

EuroLinux scales down gracefully to SMB needs:

• Affordable Support Tiers: Ranging from email-only to 24×7 phone support.
• Prebuilt Virtual Appliances: For common workloads like web servers, mail servers and file sharing.
• Training and Certification: Online courses and certifications to build internal expertise.

Key Features

• Binary Compatibility: Guaranteed compatibility with RHEL-certified applications.
• Extended Lifecycle: Up to 10 years of support per major release, with optional Extended Life Cycle Support (ELS).
• Modular Architecture: Application Streams enable simultaneous versions of languages and frameworks.
• Comprehensive Security: SELinux, OpenSCAP, FIPS-certified cryptography.
• European Support Network: Local partners in key markets, with SLAs tailored to regional business hours.
• Container-Ready: Podman, Buildah and Skopeo for container management without Docker daemon.
• Cloud Integration: Prebuilt images for major public clouds and deployment scripts for Kubernetes.

Architecture

To illustrate how EuroLinux positions itself among similar distributions, consider the following comparison table:

Use Cases

EuroLinux shines in a variety of real-world scenarios:

• Financial Services: Low-latency trading platforms using the realtime kernel.
• Healthcare IT: Secure patient record systems with strict compliance requirements.
• Telecommunications: High-availability VoIP and messaging backends.
• Manufacturing: Industrial automation servers with extended hardware support.
• Research and Education: HPC clusters and data analytics pipelines.

Curiosities

• Community-Driven Translations: EuroLinux documentation is translated into multiple European languages by volunteers.
• Green Hosting Partnerships: Collaborations with data centers powered by renewable energy.
• Open Hardware Initiatives: Testing on European-designed server motherboards under the Open Compute Project.
• Formula Racing Team: Sponsorship of an EU-based motorsport team, highlighting low-latency telemetry powered by EuroLinux.
• Space Collaborations: Participation in ground-station software for satellite tracking and communications.

Sources and Further Reading

• https://eurolinux.com
• https://access.redhat.com
• https://wiki.eurosde.org/projects/eurolinux