last updated: 2024-12-10

About the project

The ELevate project is an initiative to support upgrades between major versions of RHEL-derivatives.

The Leapp utility (opens new window) and a few patches (opens new window) are used to perform in-place upgrades from CentOS 7 and Enterprise Linux (EL) 8, and between EL8 and EL9 systems.

The Red Hat Upgrade Tool (opens new window) is used to perform in-place upgrades between CentOS 6 and CentOS 7.

Available migration paths

TIP

Please note, the ELevate project is designed to perform one-step upgrades. If you wish to perform an upgrade from CentOS7, you need to split the process. Please check the ELevating CentOS7 to AlmaLinux 9 guide for more information.

The ELevate project supports a number of 3rd party repositories:

• EPEL support is currently available for upgrades to AlmaLinux OS only.
• Docker CE - for all supported operating systems.
• MariaDB - for all supported operating systems.
• Microsoft Linux Package Repositories - for all supported operating systems.
• nginx - for all supported operating systems.
• PostgreSQL - for all supported operating systems.
• Imunify - for upgrades to EL 8.
• KernelCare - for all supported operating systems.

TIP

You can contribute to the project and add more 3rd party repositories support. See more on the Contribute page.

Currently, the following upgrade paths are available:

* - upgrading from Scientific Linux 7 to AlmaLinux 8 requires a workaround. Please, see more in the known issues.
** - upgrading to Oracle Linux 9 is available with the Oracle Leapp utility (opens new window) and will not be supported by ELevate project.

How to upgrade

Various guides cover the update steps depending on the upgrade type:

• The ELevate Quickstart Guide covers the upgrade steps using the Leapp utility version with 3rd party repositories support and provides the Demo video.
• The ELevate CentOS 7 to AlmaLinux 9 Guide covers a two-stage process to upgrade a CentOS 7 machine to AlmaLinux OS 9.
• The ELevate CentOS 6 to CentOS 7 Guide covers steps to be performed to upgrade CentOS 6 machines to CentOS 7.
• The ELevate Offline Guide covers the upgrade steps on air-gapped machines.

How to Contribute

ELevate is developed and built as a tool for the whole ecosystem, not just AlmaLinux. ELevate supports upgrading to/from other distributions and is open for all to contribute to and enhance. You can find more information and FAQ on almalinux.org/elevate (opens new window) and Migration SIG.

If are interested in contributing to the project, please check:

• The ELevate Contribution Guide covers the contribution processes to add a 3rd party repository support or testing.
• The ELevate NG Guide covers the upgrade steps using the next Leapp tool version, new features, bug fixes, etc.
• The ELevate Testing Guide covers the steps for upgrade processes that are in testing.

You can get any help on AlmaLinux Chat on Mattermost (opens new window).