# last updated: 2024-05-17
# Contribute to Testing
At AlmaLinux, we're dedicated to providing a high-quality experience for our community. We believe that thorough testing is crucial to guaranteeing the quality and reliability of the distribution. We put a lot of effort into testing and making sure everything works smoothly regardless of where or what you run.
# Beta testing
New AlmaLinux OS Beta and Stable versions are released every six months. We rely on our community to help us test Beta releases by providing feedback, reporting bugs, and identifying issues. Your input is crucial in ensuring our production releases are smooth and successful and we welcome your participation in this process.
If you're interested in contributing to Beta testing, please, see the installation/upgrade instructions in release notes and join the testing (opens new window) chat channel to stay informed.
# openQA
AlmaLinux has implemented openQA - a tool created and maintained by SUSE - for the automation of testing. With openQA we set up testing environments and scenarios, making it easier to run tests to reproduce the installation process of our images. This helps us identify and fix any issues with the installer, graphics, branding, and visual defects, allowing our developers to quickly and efficiently test AlmaLinux and catch any problems before they're released to the public.
openQA is publicly available at openqa.almalinux.org (opens new window) and users can monitor the testing progress and see the results as screenshots and video recordings.
We have long-term goals of improving our openQA infrastructure with additional tests and expanding our openQA documentation on our wiki. If you're interested in contributing to openQA, please, see more details on the openQA wiki page and join the testing (opens new window) chat channel to stay updated and involved.
# Updated packages
AlmaLinux OS is binary compatible with RHEL® and part ways in some matters. Before releasing an updated package with a patch or security fix, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation invites the community to participate in testing before its official release.
If you're interested in testing, please, join the testing (opens new window) and release engineering (opens new window) chat channels to stay updated and involved.
# Migration and Upgrades
AlmaLinux offers one project for upgrading your operating system in-place (ELevate (opens new window)), and one for migrating to AlmaLinux (AlmaLinux-deploy (opens new window))! We're actively working on improving them with the community's help, and invite you to join the testing process.
Currently, we are seeking testers for the ELevate NG that uses the next Leapp tool version - 0.19.0. Follow the ELevate NG testing guide to test this migration process and let us know how it goes.
If you're interested in participating check the Migration wiki section, Migration SIG page and join the Migration SIG (opens new window) chat channel to get involved. You can assist AlmaLinux in:
- Testing new features and expanding the documentation.
- Identifying and reporting bugs as well as resolving known issues to make the migration process smoother. Bugs should be reported to the corresponding repositories - ELevate leapp repository (opens new window) or AlmaLinux migration tool (opens new window).
# Trademarks
Red Hat, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.