Deprecated in AL2023
This section describes functionality that exists in AL2023 and is likely to be removed in a future version of Amazon Linux. Each section will describe what the functionality is and when it is expected to removed from Amazon Linux.
Note
This section will be updated over time as the Linux ecosystem evolves and future major versions of Amazon Linux are closer to release.
Topics
32bit x86 (i686) runtime support
AL2023 retains the ability to run 32bit x86 (i686) binaries. It is likely that the next major version of Amazon Linux will no longer support running 32bit user space binaries.
Berkeley DB (libdb)
AL2023 ships with version 5.3.28 of the Berkeley DB (libdb) library.
This is the last version of Berkeley DB before the license changed to the GNU Affero GPLv3 (AGPL) license,
from the less restrictive Sleepycat license.
There are few packages in AL2023 that remain reliant on Berkeley DB (libdb), and the
library will be removed in the next major release of Amazon Linux.
Note
The dnf package manager in AL2023 retains read-only support for a Berkeley DB (BDB)
format rpm database. This support will be removed in the next major release of Amazon Linux.
cron
The cronie package was installed by default on the AL2 AMI,
providing support for the traditional crontab way of scheduling periodic tasks.
In AL2023, cronie is not included by default. Therefore, support for crontab is no longer provided by default.
In AL2023, you can optionally install the cronie package to use classic cron jobs.
We recommend that you migrate to systemd timers due to the added functionality provided by systemd.
It is possible that a future version of Amazon Linux, possibly the next major version, will no longer
include support for classic cron jobs and complete the transition to systemd
timers. We recommend that you migrate away from using cron.
IMDSv1
By default, AL2023 AMIs are configured to launch in IMDSv2-only mode, disabling the use of IMDSv1. There is still the option to use AL2023 with IMDSv1 enabled. A future version of Amazon Linux is likely to enforce IMDSv2-only.
For more information on IMDS configuration for AMIs, see Configure the AMI in the Amazon EC2 User Guide for Linux Instances.
pcre version 1
The legacy pcre package is deprecated and will be removed in the next major release of Amazon Linux.
The pcre2 package is the successor. Although the first versions of AL2023 shipped with a
limited number of packages building against pcre, these packages will be migrated to pcre2
within AL2023. The deprecated pcre library will remain available in AL2023.
Note
The deprecated version of pcre will not receive security updates for the full lifetime
of AL2023. For more information about the pcre support lifecycle and the amount of time that the package will receive security updates,
see the package support statements on the pcre package.
System V init (sysvinit)
Although AL2023 retains backwards compatibility with System V service
(init) scripts, the upstream systemd project, as part of its
v254 releasesystemd. For more information, see systemd
AL2023 will retain backwards compatibility with System V service (init) scripts,
but users are encouraged to migrate to using native systemd unit files in order to be prepared
for when support for System V service (init) scripts is removed from Amazon Linux,
likely in the next major release.
