Manage package and operating system updates in AL2023 - Amazon Linux 2023
Checking for available package updatesApplying security updates using DNF and repository versionsAutomatic service restart after (security) updatesLaunching an instance with the latest repository version enabledGetting package support informationdnf check-release-updateAdding, enabling, or disabling new repositoriesAdding repositories with cloud-init

Manage package and operating system updates in AL2023

Unlike previous versions of Amazon Linux, AL2023 AMIs are locked to a specific version of the Amazon Linux repository. To apply both security and bug fixes to an AL2023 instance, update the DNF configuration to the latest available release version. Alternatively, launch a newer AL2023 instance.

This section describes how to manage DNF packages and repositories on a running instance. It also describes how to configure DNF from a user data script to enable the latest available Amazon Linux repository at launch time. For more information, see DNF Command Reference.

It is recommended to apply all updates available in a new AL2023 release. Picking just security updates, or only specific updates should be the exception rather than rule. For listing which Security advisories are relevant to a particular instance, see Listing applicable Advisories. For information on installing only updates relevant to a specific Advisory, see Applying security updates in-place.

Important

If you want to report a vulnerability or have a security concern regarding AWS cloud services or open source projects, contact AWS Security using the Vulnerability Reporting page

Checking for available package updates

You can use the dnf check-update command to check for any updates for your system. For AL2023, we recommend that you add the --releasever=version-number option to the command.

When you add this option, DNF also checks for updates for a later version of the repository. For example, after you run the dnf check-update command, use the latest returned version as the value for the version-number.

If the instance is updated to use the latest version of the repository, the output includes a list of all the packages to be updated.

Note

If you don't specify the release version with the optional flag to the dnf check-update command, only the currently configured repository version is checked. This means that packages in the later version of the repository aren't checked.

Updates in a specific version

In this example we are going to look at what updates are available in the 2023.1.20230628 release if we launched a container of the 2023.0.20230315 release.

Note

This example uses the 2023.0.20230315 and 2023.1.20230628 releases, and these are not the latest release of AL2023 See the AL2023 Release Notes for the latest releases, which contain the latest security updates.

In this example we will be starting with a container image for the 2023.0.20230315 release.

First, we fetch this container image from the container registry. The .0 at the end indicates the version of the image for a particular release; this image version is usually zero. 

$ docker pull public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.0.20230315.0
	  2023.0.20230315.0: Pulling from amazonlinux/amazonlinux
b76f3b09316a: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:94e7183b0739140dbd5b639fb7600f0a2299cec5df8780c26d9cb409da5315a9
Status: Downloaded newer image for public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.0.20230315.0
public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.0.20230315.0

We can now spawn a shell inside the container, from which we will check for updates. 

$ docker run -it public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.0.20230315.0
	  bash-5.2#

The dnf check-update command is now used to check updates available in the 2023.1.20230628 release.

Note

Applying package updates is a priviledged operation. Although elevating privileges is typically not required when running in a container, if running in a non-containerized environment such as an Amazon EC2 instance, you can check for updates without elevating privileges. 

$ dnf check-update --releasever=2023.1.20230628
Amazon Linux 2023 repository                      60 MB/s |  15 MB     00:00
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:02 ago on Mon Jul 22 17:25:34 2024.

amazon-linux-repo-cdn.noarch        2023.1.20230628-0.amzn2023        amazonlinux
ca-certificates.noarch              2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.0.2        amazonlinux
curl-minimal.x86_64                 8.0.1-1.amzn2023                  amazonlinux
glib2.x86_64                        2.74.7-688.amzn2023.0.1           amazonlinux
glibc.x86_64                        2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3              amazonlinux
glibc-common.x86_64                 2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3              amazonlinux
glibc-minimal-langpack.x86_64       2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3              amazonlinux
gnupg2-minimal.x86_64               2.3.7-1.amzn2023.0.4              amazonlinux
keyutils-libs.x86_64                1.6.3-1.amzn2023                  amazonlinux
libcap.x86_64                       2.48-2.amzn2023.0.3               amazonlinux
libcurl-minimal.x86_64              8.0.1-1.amzn2023                  amazonlinux
libgcc.x86_64                       11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3             amazonlinux
libgomp.x86_64                      11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3             amazonlinux
libstdc++.x86_64                    11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3             amazonlinux
libxml2.x86_64                      2.10.4-1.amzn2023.0.1             amazonlinux
ncurses-base.noarch                 6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.4       amazonlinux
ncurses-libs.x86_64                 6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.4       amazonlinux
openssl-libs.x86_64                 1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.3            amazonlinux
python3-rpm.x86_64                  4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6          amazonlinux
rpm.x86_64                          4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6          amazonlinux
rpm-build-libs.x86_64               4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6          amazonlinux
rpm-libs.x86_64                     4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6          amazonlinux
rpm-sign-libs.x86_64                4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6          amazonlinux
system-release.noarch               2023.1.20230628-0.amzn2023        amazonlinux
tzdata.noarch                       2023c-1.amzn2023.0.1              amazonlinux
bash-5.2#

The version of the system-release package shows the release that a dnf upgrade command would update to, which is the 2023.1.20230628 release that was requested in the dnf check-update --releasever=2023.1.20230628 command.

Updates in the latest version

In this example we are going to look at what updates are available in the latest version of AL2023 if we launched a container of the 2023.4.20240319 release. At the time of writing, the latest release is 2023.5.20240708, so the listed updates in this example will be as of that release.

Note

This example uses the 2023.4.20240319 and 2023.5.20240708 releases, the latter being the latest release at the time of writing. For more information on the latest releases, see the AL2023 Release Notes.

In this example we will be starting with a container image for the 2023.4.20240319 release.

First, we fetch this container image from the container registry. The .1 at the end indicates the version of the image for a particular release. While the image version is typically zero, this example uses a release where the image version is one. 

$ docker pull public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.4.20240319.1
	  2023.4.20240319.1: Pulling from amazonlinux/amazonlinux
6de065fda9a2: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:b4838c4cc9211d966b6ea158dacc9eda7433a16ba94436508c2d9f01f7658b4e
Status: Downloaded newer image for public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.4.20240319.1
public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.4.20240319.1

We can now spawn a shell inside the container, from which we will check for updates. 

$ docker run -it public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.4.20240319.1
	  bash-5.2#

The dnf check-update command is now used to check updates available in the latest release, which at the time of writing was 2023.5.20240708.

Note

Applying package updates is a priviledged operation. Although elevating privileges is typically not required when running in a container, if running in a non-containerized environment such as an Amazon EC2 instance, you can check for updates without elevating privileges. 

$ dnf --releasever=latest check-update
Amazon Linux 2023 repository                      78 MB/s |  25 MB     00:00
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:04 ago on Mon Jul 22 17:39:13 2024.

amazon-linux-repo-cdn.noarch        2023.5.20240708-1.amzn2023        amazonlinux
curl-minimal.x86_64                 8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4              amazonlinux
dnf.noarch                          4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5             amazonlinux
dnf-data.noarch                     4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5             amazonlinux
expat.x86_64                        2.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4              amazonlinux
glibc.x86_64                        2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10             amazonlinux
glibc-common.x86_64                 2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10             amazonlinux
glibc-minimal-langpack.x86_64       2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10             amazonlinux
krb5-libs.x86_64                    1.21-3.amzn2023.0.4               amazonlinux
libblkid.x86_64                     2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4             amazonlinux
libcurl-minimal.x86_64              8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4              amazonlinux
libmount.x86_64                     2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4             amazonlinux
libnghttp2.x86_64                   1.59.0-3.amzn2023.0.1             amazonlinux
libsmartcols.x86_64                 2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4             amazonlinux
libuuid.x86_64                      2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4             amazonlinux
openssl-libs.x86_64                 1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.12           amazonlinux
python3.x86_64                      3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8             amazonlinux
python3-dnf.noarch                  4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5             amazonlinux
python3-libs.x86_64                 3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8             amazonlinux
system-release.noarch               2023.5.20240708-1.amzn2023        amazonlinux
yum.noarch                          4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5             amazonlinux
bash-5.2#

The version of the system-release package shows the release that a dnf upgrade command would update to.

For this command, if there are newer packages available, the return code is 100. If there aren't any newer packages available, the return code is 0. In addition, the output also lists all the packages to update.

Applying security updates using DNF and repository versions

New package updates and security updates are made available to new repository versions only. For instances that you launched from earlier AL2023 AMI versions, you must update the repository version before you can install security updates. The dnf check-release-update command includes an example update command that updates all the packages that are installed on the system to versions in a newer repository.

Note

If you don't specify the release version with the optional flag to the dnf check-update command, only the currently configured repository version is checked. This means that any update to installed packages present in any later version of the repository aren't applied.

This section covers the recommended upgrade path of applying all available updates rather than picking and choosing individual updates or only ones marked as security updates. By applying all updates, existing instances are moved to the same package set as launching an updated AMI. This consistency reduces the variation of package versions across a fleet. For more information on applying specific updates, see Applying security updates in-place.

Applying updates in a specific version

In this example we are going to apply updates available in the 2023.1.20230628 release if we launched a container of the 2023.0.20230315 release.

Note

This example uses the 2023.0.20230315 and 2023.1.20230628 releases, and these are not the latest release of AL2023 See the AL2023 Release Notes for the latest releases, which contain the latest security updates.

In this example we will be starting with a container image for the 2023.0.20230315 release.

First, we fetch this container image from the container registry. The .0 at the end indicates the version of the image for a particular release; this image version is usually zero. 

$ docker pull public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.0.20230315.0
	  2023.0.20230315.0: Pulling from amazonlinux/amazonlinux
b76f3b09316a: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:94e7183b0739140dbd5b639fb7600f0a2299cec5df8780c26d9cb409da5315a9
Status: Downloaded newer image for public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.0.20230315.0
public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.0.20230315.0

We can now spawn a shell inside the container, from which we will apply updates. 

$ docker run -it public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.0.20230315.0
	  bash-5.2#

The dnf upgrade command is now used to apply all of the updates present in the 2023.1.20230628 release.

Note

Applying package updates is a priviledged operation. Although elevating privileges is typically not required when running in a container, if running in a non-containerized environment such as an Amazon EC2 instance, you will need to run the dnf upgrade command as the root user. This can be done using the sudo or su commands. 

$ dnf upgrade --releasever=2023.1.20230628
Amazon Linux 2023 repository                      38 MB/s |  15 MB     00:00
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:02 ago on Mon Jul 22 17:49:08 2024.
Dependencies resolved.
=================================================================================
 Package                 Arch    Version                      Repository    Size
=================================================================================
Upgrading:
 amazon-linux-repo-cdn   noarch  2023.1.20230628-0.amzn2023   amazonlinux   18 k
 ca-certificates         noarch  2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.0.2   amazonlinux  829 k
 curl-minimal            x86_64  8.0.1-1.amzn2023             amazonlinux  150 k
 glib2                   x86_64  2.74.7-688.amzn2023.0.1      amazonlinux  2.7 M
 glibc                   x86_64  2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3         amazonlinux  1.9 M
 glibc-common            x86_64  2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3         amazonlinux  307 k
 glibc-minimal-langpack  x86_64  2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3         amazonlinux   35 k
 gnupg2-minimal          x86_64  2.3.7-1.amzn2023.0.4         amazonlinux  421 k
 keyutils-libs           x86_64  1.6.3-1.amzn2023             amazonlinux   33 k
 libcap                  x86_64  2.48-2.amzn2023.0.3          amazonlinux   67 k
 libcurl-minimal         x86_64  8.0.1-1.amzn2023             amazonlinux  249 k
 libgcc                  x86_64  11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3        amazonlinux  105 k
 libgomp                 x86_64  11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3        amazonlinux  280 k
 libstdc++               x86_64  11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3        amazonlinux  744 k
 libxml2                 x86_64  2.10.4-1.amzn2023.0.1        amazonlinux  706 k
 ncurses-base            noarch  6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.4  amazonlinux   60 k
 ncurses-libs            x86_64  6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.4  amazonlinux  328 k
 openssl-libs            x86_64  1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.3       amazonlinux  2.2 M
 python3-rpm             x86_64  4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6     amazonlinux   88 k
 rpm                     x86_64  4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6     amazonlinux  486 k
 rpm-build-libs          x86_64  4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6     amazonlinux   90 k
 rpm-libs                x86_64  4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6     amazonlinux  309 k
 rpm-sign-libs           x86_64  4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6     amazonlinux   21 k
 system-release          noarch  2023.1.20230628-0.amzn2023   amazonlinux   29 k
 tzdata                  noarch  2023c-1.amzn2023.0.1         amazonlinux  433 k

Transaction Summary
=================================================================================
Upgrade  25 Packages

Total download size: 12 M
Is this ok [y/N]:

The version of the system-release package shows the release that a dnf upgrade command would update to, which is the 2023.1.20230628 release that was requested in the dnf upgrade --releasever=2023.1.20230628 command.

By default, dnf will ask you to confirm you wish to apply the updates. You can bypass this prompt by using the -y flag to dnf. for this example, the dnf upgrade -y --releasever=2023.1.20230628 command would not ask for confirmation before applying the updates. This is useful in scripts or other automation environments.

Once confirming you want to apply the updates, dnf applies them. 

Is this ok [y/N]:y
	  Downloading Packages:
(1/25): libcap-2.48-2.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64.rpm    1.5 MB/s |  67 kB     00:00
(2/25): python3-rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86 2.1 MB/s |  88 kB     00:00
(3/25): libcurl-minimal-8.0.1-1.amzn2023.x86_64. 2.6 MB/s | 249 kB     00:00
(4/25): glib2-2.74.7-688.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64.rpm  26 MB/s | 2.7 MB     00:00
(5/25): glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023. 1.3 MB/s |  35 kB     00:00
(6/25): rpm-build-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6. 2.8 MB/s |  90 kB     00:00
(7/25): rpm-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64 6.6 MB/s | 309 kB     00:00
(8/25): libgcc-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64.rpm  3.9 MB/s | 105 kB     00:00
(9/25): glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64  11 MB/s | 307 kB     00:00
(10/25): glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64.rpm    31 MB/s | 1.9 MB     00:00
(11/25): rpm-sign-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6. 877 kB/s |  21 kB     00:00
(12/25): gnupg2-minimal-2.3.7-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86  15 MB/s | 421 kB     00:00
(13/25): openssl-libs-3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_6  35 MB/s | 2.2 MB     00:00
(14/25): libxml2-2.10.4-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64.rp  14 MB/s | 706 kB     00:00
(15/25): curl-minimal-8.0.1-1.amzn2023.x86_64.rp 4.2 MB/s | 150 kB     00:00
(16/25): rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64.rpm  11 MB/s | 486 kB     00:00
(17/25): libgomp-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64.rp 7.0 MB/s | 280 kB     00:00
(18/25): libstdc++-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64.  14 MB/s | 744 kB     00:00
(19/25): keyutils-libs-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.x86_64.r 1.6 MB/s |  33 kB     00:00
(20/25): ncurses-libs-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.  10 MB/s | 328 kB     00:00
(21/25): tzdata-2023c-1.amzn2023.0.1.noarch.rpm   11 MB/s | 433 kB     00:00
(22/25): amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.1.20230628-0 781 kB/s |  18 kB     00:00
(23/25): ca-certificates-2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.  16 MB/s | 829 kB     00:00
(24/25): system-release-2023.1.20230628-0.amzn20 1.5 MB/s |  29 kB     00:00
(25/25): ncurses-base-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0. 3.1 MB/s |  60 kB     00:00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                             28 MB/s |  12 MB     00:00
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
  Preparing        :                                                         1/1
  Upgrading        : libgcc-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                    1/50
  Running scriptlet: libgcc-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                    1/50
  Upgrading        : system-release-2023.1.20230628-0.amzn2023.noarch       2/50
  Upgrading        : amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.1.20230628-0.amzn2023.no    3/50
  Upgrading        : ncurses-base-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.4.noarch        4/50
  Upgrading        : tzdata-2023c-1.amzn2023.0.1.noarch                     5/50
  Upgrading        : glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64               6/50
  Running scriptlet: glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                      7/50
  Upgrading        : glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                      7/50
  Running scriptlet: glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                      7/50
  Upgrading        : glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64     8/50
  Upgrading        : libcap-2.48-2.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                      9/50
  Upgrading        : gnupg2-minimal-2.3.7-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64            10/50
  Upgrading        : libgomp-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                  11/50
  Running scriptlet: ca-certificates-2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.0.2.noarch     12/50
  Upgrading        : ca-certificates-2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.0.2.noarch     12/50
  Running scriptlet: ca-certificates-2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.0.2.noarch     12/50
  Upgrading        : openssl-libs-1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64            13/50
  Upgrading        : libcurl-minimal-8.0.1-1.amzn2023.x86_64               14/50
  Upgrading        : curl-minimal-8.0.1-1.amzn2023.x86_64                  15/50
  Upgrading        : rpm-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64              16/50
  Upgrading        : rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64                   17/50
  Upgrading        : rpm-build-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64        18/50
  Upgrading        : rpm-sign-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64         19/50
  Upgrading        : python3-rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64           20/50
  Upgrading        : glib2-2.74.7-688.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64                  21/50
  Upgrading        : libxml2-2.10.4-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64                  22/50
  Upgrading        : libstdc++-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                23/50
  Upgrading        : keyutils-libs-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.x86_64                 24/50
  Upgrading        : ncurses-libs-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64       25/50
  Cleanup          : glib2-2.73.2-680.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                  26/50
  Cleanup          : libstdc++-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                27/50
  Cleanup          : libxml2-2.10.3-2.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64                  28/50
  Cleanup          : python3-rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.5.x86_64           29/50
  Cleanup          : rpm-build-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.5.x86_64        30/50
  Cleanup          : rpm-sign-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.5.x86_64         31/50
  Cleanup          : rpm-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.5.x86_64              32/50
  Cleanup          : libcap-2.48-2.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                     33/50
  Cleanup          : gnupg2-minimal-2.3.7-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64            34/50
  Cleanup          : ncurses-libs-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64       35/50
  Cleanup          : libgomp-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                  36/50
  Cleanup          : rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.5.x86_64                   37/50
  Cleanup          : curl-minimal-7.88.1-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64             38/50
  Cleanup          : libcurl-minimal-7.88.1-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64          39/50
  Cleanup          : openssl-libs-1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64            40/50
  Cleanup          : keyutils-libs-1.6.1-2.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64             41/50
  Cleanup          : amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.0.20230315-1.amzn2023.no   42/50
  Cleanup          : system-release-2023.0.20230315-1.amzn2023.noarch      43/50
  Cleanup          : ca-certificates-2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.0.1.noarch     44/50
  Cleanup          : ncurses-base-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.3.noarch       45/50
  Cleanup          : glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64    46/50
  Cleanup          : glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                     47/50
  Cleanup          : glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64              48/50
  Cleanup          : tzdata-2022g-1.amzn2023.0.1.noarch                    49/50
  Cleanup          : libgcc-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                   50/50
  Running scriptlet: libgcc-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                   50/50
  Running scriptlet: ca-certificates-2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.0.2.noarch     50/50
  Running scriptlet: rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64                   50/50
  Running scriptlet: libgcc-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                   50/50
  Verifying        : libcurl-minimal-8.0.1-1.amzn2023.x86_64                1/50
  Verifying        : libcurl-minimal-7.88.1-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64           2/50
  Verifying        : libcap-2.48-2.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                      3/50
  Verifying        : libcap-2.48-2.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                      4/50
  Verifying        : glib2-2.74.7-688.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64                   5/50
  Verifying        : glib2-2.73.2-680.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                   6/50
  Verifying        : python3-rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64            7/50
  Verifying        : python3-rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.5.x86_64            8/50
  Verifying        : glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64     9/50
  Verifying        : glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64    10/50
  Verifying        : rpm-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64              11/50
  Verifying        : rpm-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.5.x86_64              12/50
  Verifying        : rpm-build-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64        13/50
  Verifying        : rpm-build-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.5.x86_64        14/50
  Verifying        : glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                     15/50
  Verifying        : glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                     16/50
  Verifying        : libgcc-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                   17/50
  Verifying        : libgcc-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                   18/50
  Verifying        : glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64              19/50
  Verifying        : glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64              20/50
  Verifying        : rpm-sign-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64         21/50
  Verifying        : rpm-sign-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.5.x86_64         22/50
  Verifying        : openssl-libs-1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64            23/50
  Verifying        : openssl-libs-1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64            24/50
  Verifying        : gnupg2-minimal-2.3.7-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64            25/50
  Verifying        : gnupg2-minimal-2.3.7-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64            26/50
  Verifying        : libxml2-2.10.4-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64                  27/50
  Verifying        : libxml2-2.10.3-2.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64                  28/50
  Verifying        : curl-minimal-8.0.1-1.amzn2023.x86_64                  29/50
  Verifying        : curl-minimal-7.88.1-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64             30/50
  Verifying        : rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64                   31/50
  Verifying        : rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.5.x86_64                   32/50
  Verifying        : libstdc++-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                33/50
  Verifying        : libstdc++-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                34/50
  Verifying        : libgomp-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                  35/50
  Verifying        : libgomp-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64                  36/50
  Verifying        : keyutils-libs-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.x86_64                 37/50
  Verifying        : keyutils-libs-1.6.1-2.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64             38/50
  Verifying        : ncurses-libs-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64       39/50
  Verifying        : ncurses-libs-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64       40/50
  Verifying        : ca-certificates-2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.0.2.noarch     41/50
  Verifying        : ca-certificates-2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.0.1.noarch     42/50
  Verifying        : tzdata-2023c-1.amzn2023.0.1.noarch                    43/50
  Verifying        : tzdata-2022g-1.amzn2023.0.1.noarch                    44/50
  Verifying        : amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.1.20230628-0.amzn2023.no   45/50
  Verifying        : amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.0.20230315-1.amzn2023.no   46/50
  Verifying        : system-release-2023.1.20230628-0.amzn2023.noarch      47/50
  Verifying        : system-release-2023.0.20230315-1.amzn2023.noarch      48/50
  Verifying        : ncurses-base-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.4.noarch       49/50
  Verifying        : ncurses-base-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.3.noarch       50/50

Upgraded:
  amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.1.20230628-0.amzn2023.noarch
  ca-certificates-2023.2.60-1.0.amzn2023.0.2.noarch
  curl-minimal-8.0.1-1.amzn2023.x86_64
  glib2-2.74.7-688.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64
  glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64
  glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64
  glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64
  gnupg2-minimal-2.3.7-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  keyutils-libs-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.x86_64
  libcap-2.48-2.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64
  libcurl-minimal-8.0.1-1.amzn2023.x86_64
  libgcc-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64
  libgomp-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64
  libstdc++-11.3.1-4.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64
  libxml2-2.10.4-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64
  ncurses-base-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.4.noarch
  ncurses-libs-6.2-4.20200222.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  openssl-libs-1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64
  python3-rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64
  rpm-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64
  rpm-build-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64
  rpm-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64
  rpm-sign-libs-4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64
  system-release-2023.1.20230628-0.amzn2023.noarch
  tzdata-2023c-1.amzn2023.0.1.noarch

  Complete!
bash-5.2#
Updates in the latest version

In this example we are going to apply updates available in the latest version of AL2023 if we launched a container of the 2023.4.20240319 release. At the time of writing, the latest release is 2023.5.20240708, so the listed updates in this example will be as of that release.

Note

This example uses the 2023.4.20240319 and 2023.5.20240708 releases, the latter being the latest release at the time of writing. For more information on the latest releases, see the AL2023 Release Notes.

In this example we will be starting with a container image for the 2023.4.20240319 release.

First, we fetch this container image from the container registry. The .1 at the end indicates the version of the image for a particular release. While the image version is typically zero, this example uses a release where the image version is one. 

$ docker pull public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.4.20240319.1
	  2023.4.20240319.1: Pulling from amazonlinux/amazonlinux
6de065fda9a2: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:b4838c4cc9211d966b6ea158dacc9eda7433a16ba94436508c2d9f01f7658b4e
Status: Downloaded newer image for public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.4.20240319.1
public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.4.20240319.1

We can now spawn a shell inside the container, from which we will apply updates. 

$ docker run -it public.ecr.aws/amazonlinux/amazonlinux:2023.4.20240319.1
	  bash-5.2#

The dnf upgrade command is now used to apply updates available in the latest release, which at the time of writing was 2023.5.20240708.

Note

Applying package updates is a priviledged operation. Although elevating privileges is typically not required when running in a container, if running in a non-containerized environment such as an Amazon EC2 instance, you will need to run the dnf upgrade command as the root user. This can be done using the sudo or su commands.

By default, dnf will ask you to confirm you wish to apply the updates. In this example, we are bypassing this prompt by using the -y flag to dnf. 

$ dnf -y --releasever=latest update
Amazon Linux 2023 repository                      75 MB/s |  25 MB     00:00
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:04 ago on Mon Jul 22 18:00:10 2024.
Dependencies resolved.
=================================================================================
 Package                 Arch    Version                      Repository    Size
=================================================================================
Upgrading:
 amazon-linux-repo-cdn   noarch  2023.5.20240708-1.amzn2023   amazonlinux   17 k
 curl-minimal            x86_64  8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4         amazonlinux  160 k
 dnf                     noarch  4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5        amazonlinux  460 k
 dnf-data                noarch  4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5        amazonlinux   34 k
 expat                   x86_64  2.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4         amazonlinux  117 k
 glibc                   x86_64  2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10        amazonlinux  1.9 M
 glibc-common            x86_64  2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10        amazonlinux  295 k
 glibc-minimal-langpack  x86_64  2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10        amazonlinux   23 k
 krb5-libs               x86_64  1.21-3.amzn2023.0.4          amazonlinux  758 k
 libblkid                x86_64  2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4        amazonlinux  105 k
 libcurl-minimal         x86_64  8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4         amazonlinux  275 k
 libmount                x86_64  2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4        amazonlinux  132 k
 libnghttp2              x86_64  1.59.0-3.amzn2023.0.1        amazonlinux   79 k
 libsmartcols            x86_64  2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4        amazonlinux   62 k
 libuuid                 x86_64  2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4        amazonlinux   26 k
 openssl-libs            x86_64  1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.12      amazonlinux  2.2 M
 python3                 x86_64  3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8        amazonlinux   27 k
 python3-dnf             noarch  4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5        amazonlinux  409 k
 python3-libs            x86_64  3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8        amazonlinux  7.3 M
 system-release          noarch  2023.5.20240708-1.amzn2023   amazonlinux   28 k
 yum                     noarch  4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5        amazonlinux   32 k

 Transaction Summary
=================================================================================
Upgrade  21 Packages

Total download size: 14 M
Downloading Packages:
(1/21): amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.5.20240708-1. 345 kB/s |  17 kB     00:00
(2/21): dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch.rpm     6.8 MB/s | 460 kB     00:00
(3/21): dnf-data-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch.rp 1.6 MB/s |  34 kB     00:00
(4/21): expat-2.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64.rpm    4.6 MB/s | 117 kB     00:00
(5/21): glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64.rpm    38 MB/s | 1.9 MB     00:00
(6/21): glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_6 8.8 MB/s | 295 kB     00:00
(7/21): glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023. 1.7 MB/s |  23 kB     00:00
(8/21): curl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64 998 kB/s | 160 kB     00:00
(9/21): libblkid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64.rp 4.1 MB/s | 105 kB     00:00
(10/21): krb5-libs-1.21-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64.rp  16 MB/s | 758 kB     00:00
(11/21): libmount-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64.r 7.9 MB/s | 132 kB     00:00
(12/21): libnghttp2-1.59.0-3.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64 5.6 MB/s |  79 kB     00:00
(13/21): libsmartcols-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_ 4.4 MB/s |  62 kB     00:00
(14/21): libcurl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x8 7.1 MB/s | 275 kB     00:00
(15/21): libuuid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64.rp 1.1 MB/s |  26 kB     00:00
(16/21): python3-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64.rp 1.5 MB/s |  27 kB     00:00
(17/21): python3-dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarc  19 MB/s | 409 kB     00:00
(18/21): system-release-2023.5.20240708-1.amzn20 1.9 MB/s |  28 kB     00:00
(19/21): yum-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch.rpm    1.6 MB/s |  32 kB     00:00
(20/21): openssl-libs-3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.12.x86_  26 MB/s | 2.2 MB     00:00
(21/21): python3-libs-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8.x86_  59 MB/s | 7.3 MB     00:00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                             34 MB/s |  14 MB     00:00
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
  Preparing        :                                                         1/1
  Upgrading        : glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64              1/42
  Upgrading        : glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64    2/42
  Running scriptlet: glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64                     3/42
  Upgrading        : glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64                     3/42
  Running scriptlet: glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64                     3/42
  Upgrading        : libuuid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                   4/42
  Upgrading        : openssl-libs-1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.12.x86_64            5/42
  Upgrading        : krb5-libs-1.21-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                   6/42
  Upgrading        : libblkid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                  7/42
  Running scriptlet: libblkid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                  7/42
  Upgrading        : expat-2.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                      8/42
  Upgrading        : python3-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64                   9/42
  Upgrading        : python3-libs-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64             10/42
  Upgrading        : libnghttp2-1.59.0-3.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64               11/42
  Upgrading        : libcurl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64           12/42
  Upgrading        : system-release-2023.5.20240708-1.amzn2023.noarch      13/42
  Upgrading        : amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.5.20240708-1.amzn2023.no   14/42
  Upgrading        : dnf-data-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch                 15/42
  Upgrading        : python3-dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch              16/42
  Upgrading        : dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch                      17/42
  Running scriptlet: dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch                      17/42
  Upgrading        : yum-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch                      18/42
  Upgrading        : curl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64              19/42
  Upgrading        : libmount-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                 20/42
  Upgrading        : libsmartcols-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64             21/42
  Cleanup          : yum-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.noarch                      22/42
  Running scriptlet: dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.noarch                      23/42
  Cleanup          : dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.noarch                      23/42
  Running scriptlet: dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.noarch                      23/42
  Cleanup          : python3-dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.noarch              24/42
  Cleanup          : amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.4.20240319-1.amzn2023.no   25/42
  Cleanup          : libmount-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                 26/42
  Cleanup          : curl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64              27/42
  Cleanup          : libcurl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64           28/42
  Cleanup          : krb5-libs-1.21-3.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                  29/42
  Cleanup          : libblkid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                 30/42
  Cleanup          : libnghttp2-1.57.0-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64               31/42
  Cleanup          : libsmartcols-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64             32/42
  Cleanup          : system-release-2023.4.20240319-1.amzn2023.noarch      33/42
  Cleanup          : dnf-data-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.noarch                 34/42
  Cleanup          : python3-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64                  35/42
  Cleanup          : python3-libs-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64             36/42
  Cleanup          : openssl-libs-1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.11.x86_64           37/42
  Cleanup          : libuuid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                  38/42
  Cleanup          : expat-2.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                     39/42
  Cleanup          : glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64                     40/42
  Cleanup          : glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64    41/42
  Cleanup          : glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64              42/42
  Running scriptlet: glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64              42/42
  Verifying        : amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.5.20240708-1.amzn2023.no    1/42
  Verifying        : amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.4.20240319-1.amzn2023.no    2/42
  Verifying        : curl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64               3/42
  Verifying        : curl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64               4/42
  Verifying        : dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch                       5/42
  Verifying        : dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.noarch                       6/42
  Verifying        : dnf-data-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch                  7/42
  Verifying        : dnf-data-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.noarch                  8/42
  Verifying        : expat-2.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                      9/42
  Verifying        : expat-2.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                     10/42
  Verifying        : glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64                    11/42
  Verifying        : glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64                     12/42
  Verifying        : glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64             13/42
  Verifying        : glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64              14/42
  Verifying        : glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64   15/42
  Verifying        : glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64    16/42
  Verifying        : krb5-libs-1.21-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                  17/42
  Verifying        : krb5-libs-1.21-3.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                  18/42
  Verifying        : libblkid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                 19/42
  Verifying        : libblkid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                 20/42
  Verifying        : libcurl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64           21/42
  Verifying        : libcurl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64           22/42
  Verifying        : libmount-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                 23/42
  Verifying        : libmount-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                 24/42
  Verifying        : libnghttp2-1.59.0-3.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64               25/42
  Verifying        : libnghttp2-1.57.0-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64               26/42
  Verifying        : libsmartcols-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64             27/42
  Verifying        : libsmartcols-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64             28/42
  Verifying        : libuuid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64                  29/42
  Verifying        : libuuid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64                  30/42
  Verifying        : openssl-libs-1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.12.x86_64           31/42
  Verifying        : openssl-libs-1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.11.x86_64           32/42
  Verifying        : python3-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64                  33/42
  Verifying        : python3-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64                  34/42
  Verifying        : python3-dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch              35/42
  Verifying        : python3-dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.noarch              36/42
  Verifying        : python3-libs-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64             37/42
  Verifying        : python3-libs-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64             38/42
  Verifying        : system-release-2023.5.20240708-1.amzn2023.noarch      39/42
  Verifying        : system-release-2023.4.20240319-1.amzn2023.noarch      40/42
  Verifying        : yum-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch                      41/42
  Verifying        : yum-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.noarch                      42/42

Upgraded:
  amazon-linux-repo-cdn-2023.5.20240708-1.amzn2023.noarch
  curl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch
  dnf-data-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch
  expat-2.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  glibc-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64
  glibc-common-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64
  glibc-minimal-langpack-2.34-52.amzn2023.0.10.x86_64
  krb5-libs-1.21-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  libblkid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  libcurl-minimal-8.5.0-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  libmount-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  libnghttp2-1.59.0-3.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64
  libsmartcols-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  libuuid-2.37.4-1.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  openssl-libs-1:3.0.8-1.amzn2023.0.12.x86_64
  python3-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64
  python3-dnf-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch
  python3-libs-3.9.16-1.amzn2023.0.8.x86_64
  system-release-2023.5.20240708-1.amzn2023.noarch
  yum-4.14.0-1.amzn2023.0.5.noarch

Complete!
bash-5.2#

To discover AL2023 updates, do one or more of the following:

  • Run the dnf check-update command. This checks for any unapplied updates in the version of Amazon Linux which you are locked to. This may show updates if you updated only the system-release package, moving what version of the repositories the instance is locked to but not applying any of the updates available in it.

  • Subscribe to the Amazon Linux repository update SNS topic (arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:137112412989:amazon-linux-2023-ami-updates). For more information, see Subscribing to an Amazon SNS topic in the Amazon Simple Notification Service Developer Guide.

  • Regularly refer to the AL2023 release notes.

  • Discover new versions by Checking for newer repository versions with dnf check-release-update.

Important

New versions of AL2023 containing security updates are released frequently. Be sure to keep up to date with relevant security patches.

Automatic service restart after (security) updates

Amazon Linux now ships with the smart-restart package. Smart-restart restarts systemd services on system updates whenever a package is installed or deleted using the systems package manager. This occurs whenever dnf (update|upgrade|downgrade) is executed.

Smart-restart uses the needs-restarting package from dnf-utils and a custom denylisting mechanism to determine which services need to be restarted and whether a system reboot is advised. If a system reboot is advised, a reboot hint marker file is generated (/run/smart-restart/reboot-hint-marker).

To install smart-restart

Run the following DNF command (as you would with any other package).

$ sudo dnf install smart-restart

After the installation, the subsequent transactions will trigger the smart-restart logic.

Denylist

Smart-restart can be instructed to block certain services from being restarted. The blocked services won't contribute to the decision of whether a reboot is required. To block additional services, add a file with the suffix -denylist in /etc/smart-restart-conf.d/ as shown in the following example.

$ cat /etc/smart-restart-conf.d/custom-denylist
# Some comments
myservice.service
Note

All *-denylist files are read and evaluated when making the decision of whether a reboot is required.

Custom hooks

In addition to denylisting, smart-restart provides a mechanism to run custom scripts before and after the attempts to restart the service. The custom scripts can be used to manually perform preparation steps or to inform other components of a remaining or completed restart.

All scripts in /etc/smart-restart-conf.d/ with the suffix -pre-restart or -post-restartare executed. If the order is important, prefix all of the scripts with a number to ensure the execution order as shown in the following example.

$ ls /etc/smart-restart-conf.d/*-pre-restart
001-my-script-pre-restart
002-some-other-script-pre-restart

Launching an instance with the latest repository version enabled

You can add DNF commands to a user-data script to control what RPM packages are installed on an Amazon Linux AMI when it's launched. In the following example, a user-data script is used to make sure that any instance launched with the user-data script has the same package updates installed.

#!/bin/bash
dnf upgrade --releasever=2023.0.20230210
# Additional setup and install commands below
dnf install httpd php7.4 mysql80

You must run this script as superuser (root). To do this, run the following command.

$ sudo sh -c "bash nameofscript.sh"

For more information, see User data and shell scripts in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

Note

Instead of using a user-data script, launch the latest Amazon Linux AMI or a custom AMI that's based on the Amazon Linux AMI. The latest Amazon Linux AMI has all the necessary updates installed and is configured to point at a particular repository version.

Getting package support information

AL2023 incorporates many different open-source software projects. Each of these projects is managed independently from Amazon Linux and have different release and end-of-support schedules. To provide you with Amazon Linux specific information about these different packages, the DNF supportinfo plugin provides metadata about a package. In the following example, the dnf supportinfo command returns metadata for the glibc package.

$ sudo dnf supportinfo --pkg glibc 
Last metadata expiration check: 0:07:56 ago on Wed Mar  1 23:21:49 2023.
Name                 : glibc
Version              : 2.34-52.amzn2023.0.2
State                : installed
Support Status       : supported
Support Periods      : from 2023-03-15      : supported
                     : from 2028-03-15      : unsupported
Support Statement    : Amazon Linux 2023 End Of Life
Link                 : https://aws.amazon.com/amazon-linux-ami/faqs/
Other Info           : This is the support statement for AL2023. The
     ...: end of life of Amazon Linux 2023 would be March 2028.
     ...: From this point, the Amazon Linux 2023 packages (listed
     ...: below) will no longer, receive any updates from AWS.

Checking for newer repository versions with dnf check-release-update

In an AL2023 instance, you can use the DNF utility to manage repositories and apply updated RPM packages. These packages are available in the Amazon Linux repositories. You can use the DNF command dnf check-release-update to check for new versions of the DNF repository.

Note

AL2023 container images do not include the dnf check-release-update command by default. 

$ dnf check-release-update
No such command: check-release-update. Please use /usr/bin/dnf --help
It could be a DNF plugin command, try: "dnf install 'dnf-command(check-release-update)'"

When dnf install 'dnf-command(check-release-update)' is run, dnf will install the package which provides the check-release-update command, which is the dnf-plugin-release-notification package. In the below example, the -q argument is given to dnf for it to have quiet output. 

$ dnf -y -q install 'dnf-command(check-release-update)'
Installed:
  dnf-plugin-release-notification-1.2-1.amzn2023.0.2.noarch

In non-containerized environments such as an Amazon EC2 instance, the check-release-update command is included by default. 

$ sudo dnf check-release-update
WARNING:
  A newer release of "Amazon Linux" is available.

  Available Versions:

  Version 2023.0.20230210:
    Run the following command to update to 2023.0.20230210:

      dnf upgrade --releasever=2023.0.20230210

    Release notes:
     https://docs.aws.amazon.com/linux/al2023/release-notes/relnotes.html

This returns a full list of all the newer versions of the DNF repositories that are available. If nothing's returned, this means that DNF is currently configured to use the latest available version. The version of the currently installed system-release package sets the releasever DNF variable. To check the current repository version, run the following command.

$ rpm -q system-release --qf "%{VERSION}\n"

When you run DNF package transactions (such as install, update, or remove commands), a warning message notifies you of any new repository versions. For example, if you install the httpd package on an instance that was launched from an older version of AL2023, the following output is returned.

$ sudo dnf install httpd -y
Last metadata expiration check: 0:16:52 ago on Wed Mar  1 23:21:49 2023.
Dependencies resolved.
====================================================================
 Package            Arch   Version                Repository   Size
====================================================================
Installing:
 httpd              x86_64 2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4  amazonlinux  46 k
Installing dependencies:
 apr                x86_64 1.7.2-2.amzn2023.0.2   amazonlinux 129 k
 apr-util           x86_64 1.6.3-1.amzn2023.0.1   amazonlinux  98 k
 generic-logos-httpd
                    noarch 18.0.0-12.amzn2023.0.3 amazonlinux  19 k
 httpd-core         x86_64 2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4  amazonlinux 1.3 M
 httpd-filesystem   noarch 2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4  amazonlinux  13 k
 httpd-tools        x86_64 2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4  amazonlinux  80 k
 libbrotli          x86_64 1.0.9-4.amzn2023.0.2   amazonlinux 315 k
 mailcap            noarch 2.1.49-3.amzn2023.0.3  amazonlinux  33 k
Installing weak dependencies:
 apr-util-openssl   x86_64 1.6.3-1.amzn2023.0.1   amazonlinux  17 k
 mod_http2          x86_64 1.15.24-1.amzn2023.0.3 amazonlinux 152 k
 mod_lua            x86_64 2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4  amazonlinux  60 k

Transaction Summary
====================================================================
Install  12 Packages

Total download size: 2.3 M
Installed size: 6.8 M
Downloading Packages:
(1/12): apr-util-openssl-1.6.3-1.am 212 kB/s |  17 kB     00:00
(2/12): apr-1.7.2-2.amzn2023.0.2.x8 1.1 MB/s | 129 kB     00:00
(3/12): httpd-core-2.4.54-3.amzn202 8.9 MB/s | 1.3 MB     00:00
(4/12): mod_http2-1.15.24-1.amzn202 1.9 MB/s | 152 kB     00:00
(5/12): apr-util-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.0 1.7 MB/s |  98 kB     00:00
(6/12): mod_lua-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0 1.4 MB/s |  60 kB     00:00
(7/12): httpd-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4 1.5 MB/s |  46 kB     00:00
(8/12): libbrotli-1.0.9-4.amzn2023. 4.4 MB/s | 315 kB     00:00
(9/12): mailcap-2.1.49-3.amzn2023.0 753 kB/s |  33 kB     00:00
(10/12): httpd-tools-2.4.54-3.amzn2 978 kB/s |  80 kB     00:00
(11/12): httpd-filesystem-2.4.54-3. 210 kB/s |  13 kB     00:00
(12/12): generic-logos-httpd-18.0.0 439 kB/s |  19 kB     00:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               6.6 MB/s | 2.3 MB     00:00
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
  Preparing        :                                            1/1
  Installing       : apr-1.7.2-2.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64           1/12
  Installing       : apr-util-openssl-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.0.1.    2/12
  Installing       : apr-util-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64      3/12
  Installing       : mailcap-2.1.49-3.amzn2023.0.3.noarch      4/12
  Installing       : httpd-tools-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_    5/12
  Installing       : generic-logos-httpd-18.0.0-12.amzn2023    6/12
  Running scriptlet: httpd-filesystem-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4    7/12
  Installing       : httpd-filesystem-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4    7/12
  Installing       : httpd-core-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_6    8/12
  Installing       : mod_http2-1.15.24-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_6    9/12
  Installing       : libbrotli-1.0.9-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64    10/12
  Installing       : mod_lua-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64     11/12
  Installing       : httpd-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64       12/12
  Running scriptlet: httpd-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64       12/12
  Verifying        : apr-1.7.2-2.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64           1/12
  Verifying        : apr-util-openssl-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.0.1.    2/12
  Verifying        : httpd-core-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_6    3/12
  Verifying        : mod_http2-1.15.24-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_6    4/12
  Verifying        : apr-util-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64      5/12
  Verifying        : mod_lua-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64      6/12
  Verifying        : libbrotli-1.0.9-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64     7/12
  Verifying        : httpd-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64        8/12
  Verifying        : httpd-tools-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_    9/12
  Verifying        : mailcap-2.1.49-3.amzn2023.0.3.noarch     10/12
  Verifying        : httpd-filesystem-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4   11/12
  Verifying        : generic-logos-httpd-18.0.0-12.amzn2023   12/12

Installed:
  apr-1.7.2-2.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64
  apr-util-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64
  apr-util-openssl-1.6.3-1.amzn2023.0.1.x86_64
  generic-logos-httpd-18.0.0-12.amzn2023.0.3.noarch
  httpd-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  httpd-core-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  httpd-filesystem-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.noarch
  httpd-tools-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64
  libbrotli-1.0.9-4.amzn2023.0.2.x86_64
  mailcap-2.1.49-3.amzn2023.0.3.noarch
  mod_http2-1.15.24-1.amzn2023.0.3.x86_64
  mod_lua-2.4.54-3.amzn2023.0.4.x86_64

Complete!

Adding, enabling, or disabling new repositories

Warning

Only add repositories designed to be used with AL2023.

While repositories designed for other distributions may work today, there is no guarantee they will continue to do so with any package update in AL2023 or the repository not designed for use with AL2023.

To install a package from a different repository than the default Amazon Linux repositories, you will need to configure the DNF package management system to know where the repostiory is

To tell dnf about a package repository, add the repository information to a configuration file for that repository in the /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory. Many third-party repositories provide either the configuration file content or an installable package which includes the configuration file.

Note

While repositories can be configured directly in the /etc/dnf/dnf.conf file, this is not recommended. It is recommended that each repository be configured in its own file in /etc/yum.repos.d/.

To find out what repositories are currently enabled, you can run the following command:

$ dnf repolist all --verbose
Loaded plugins: builddep, changelog, config-manager, copr, debug, debuginfo-install, download, generate_completion_cache, groups-manager, needs-restarting, playground, release-notification, repoclosure, repodiff, repograph, repomanage, reposync, supportinfo
DNF version: 4.12.0
cachedir: /var/cache/dnf
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:02 ago on Wed Mar  1 23:40:15 2023.
Repo-id            : amazonlinux
Repo-name          : Amazon Linux 2023 repository
Repo-status        : enabled
Repo-revision      : 1677203368
Repo-updated       : Fri Feb 24 01:49:28 2023
Repo-pkgs          : 12632
Repo-available-pkgs: 12632
Repo-size          : 12 G
Repo-mirrors       : https://al2023-repos-us-west-2-de612dc2.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/core/mirrors/2023.0.20230222/x86_64/mirror.list
Repo-baseurl       : https://al2023-repos-us-west-2-de612dc2.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/core/guids/cf9296325a6c46ff40c775a8e2d632c4c3fd9d9164014ce3304715d61b90ca8e/x86_64/
                   : (0 more)
Repo-expire        : 172800 second(s) (last: Wed Mar  1 23:40:15
                   : 2023)
Repo-filename      : /etc/yum.repos.d/amazonlinux.repo

Repo-id            : amazonlinux-debuginfo
Repo-name          : Amazon Linux 2023 repository - Debug
Repo-status        : disabled
Repo-mirrors       : https://al2023-repos-us-west-2-de612dc2.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/core/mirrors/2023.0.20230222/debuginfo/x86_64/mirror.list
Repo-expire        : 21600 second(s) (last: unknown)
Repo-filename      : /etc/yum.repos.d/amazonlinux.repo

Repo-id            : amazonlinux-source
Repo-name          : Amazon Linux 2023 repository - Source packages
Repo-status        : disabled
Repo-mirrors       : https://al2023-repos-us-west-2-de612dc2.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/core/mirrors/2023.0.20230222/SRPMS/mirror.list
Repo-expire        : 21600 second(s) (last: unknown)
Repo-filename      : /etc/yum.repos.d/amazonlinux.repo

Repo-id            : kernel-livepatch
Repo-name          : Amazon Linux 2023 Kernel Livepatch repository
Repo-status        : disabled
Repo-mirrors       : https://al2023-repos-us-west-2-de612dc2.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/kernel-livepatch/mirrors/al2023/x86_64/mirror.list
Repo-expire        : 172800 second(s) (last: unknown)
Repo-filename      : /etc/yum.repos.d/kernel-livepatch.repo

Repo-id            : kernel-livepatch-source
Repo-name          : Amazon Linux 2023 Kernel Livepatch repository -
                   : Source packages
Repo-status        : disabled
Repo-mirrors       : https://al2023-repos-us-west-2-de612dc2.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/kernel-livepatch/mirrors/al2023/SRPMS/mirror.list
Repo-expire        : 21600 second(s) (last: unknown)
Repo-filename      : /etc/yum.repos.d/kernel-livepatch.repo
Total packages: 12632
Note

If you don't add the --verbose option flag, the output only includes the Repo-id, Repo-name, and Repo-status information.

To add a yum repository to /etc/yum.repos.d directory:

  1. Find the location of the .repo file. In this example, the .repo file is at https://www.example.com/repository.repo.

  2. Add the repository with the dnf config-manager command.

$ sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://www.example.com/repository.repo
Loaded plugins: priorities, update-motd, upgrade-helper
adding repo from: https://www.example.com/repository.repo
grabbing file https://www.example.com/repository.repo to /etc/yum.repos.d/repository.repo
repository.repo                                      | 4.0 kB     00:00
repo saved to /etc/yum.repos.d/repository.repo

After you install a repository, you must enable it as described in the next procedure.

To enable a yum repository in /etc/yum.repos.d, use the dnf config-manager command with the --enable flag and repository name.

$ sudo dnf config-manager --enable repository
Note

To disable a repository, use the same command syntax, but replace --enable with --disable in the command.

Adding repositories with cloud-init

In addition to adding a repository using the previous method, you can also add a new repository using the cloud-init framework.

To add a new package repository, we recommend the use of the following template. Consider saving this file locally.

#cloud-config
yum_repos: 
  repository.repo: 
    baseurl: https://www.example.com/
    enabled: true
    gpgcheck: true
    gpgkey: file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EXAMPLE
    name: Example Repository
Note

One advantage to using cloud-init is that you can add a packages: section to your configuration file. In this section, you can include the names of the packages that you want to install. You can install packages from either the default repository or the new repository that you added in the cloud-config file.

For more specific information about the structure of the YAML file, see Adding a YUM repository in the cloud-init documentation.

After you set up the YAML format file, you can run it in the cloud-init framework in the AWS CLI. Make sure to include the --userdata option and the name of the .yml file to call the desired operations.

$ aws ec2 run-instances \
  --image-id \
    resolve:ssm:/aws/service/ami-amazon-linux-latest/al2023-ami-kernel-default-x86_64 \
  --instance-type m5.xlarge \
  --region us-east-1 \
  --key-name aws-key-us-east-1 \
  --security-group-ids sg-004a7650 \
  --user-data file://cloud-config.yml