{"id":5051,"date":"2025-12-09T00:16:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T06:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/?p=5051"},"modified":"2025-12-09T18:29:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T00:29:17","slug":"why-i-downgraded-from-almalinux-10-x86_64_v2-to-almalinux-9-on-my-servers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/why-i-downgraded-from-almalinux-10-x86_64_v2-to-almalinux-9-on-my-servers\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Downgraded from AlmaLinux 10 x86_64_v2 to AlmaLinux 9"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, I installed AlmaLinux 10 x86_64_v2 on several servers, hoping it would breathe new life into my older hardware (purchased between 2010 and 2015). After a few days of testing, however, I decided to revert back to AlmaLinux 9. In this post, I\u2019ll explain the reasons behind this decision.<\/p>\n<h3>The Challenge with RHEL 10 and Older CPUs<\/h3>\n<p>Starting with RHEL 10, Red Hat dropped support for older CPUs\u2014specifically, those that don\u2019t meet the x86_64_v3 instruction set requirements. This means that standard RHEL 10 (and derivatives like Rocky Linux) won\u2019t run on many pre-2015 processors. AlmaLinux addressed this by releasing a special x86_64_v2 build, targeting older CPUs and giving them a new lease on life. I was optimistic that this would keep my perfectly functional servers out of the recycling bin.<\/p>\n<h3>How AlmaLinux 10 x86_64_v2 Works<\/h3>\n<p>Linux distributions are built from source code, with the kernel and applications compiled for specific CPU architectures. The standard RHEL 10 and Rocky Linux 10 use x86_64_v3+ compiler flags, while AlmaLinux 10 x86_64_v2 uses x86_64_v2+ flags, making it compatible with older CPUs.<\/p>\n<p>To make this version usable, AlmaLinux provides its own set of repositories (Base, Extra, CRB, etc.) compiled for x86_64_v2. However, as of December 2025, AlmaLinux is the only major provider offering RHEL 10 x86_64_v2 repositories. Popular third-party repositories like ELRepo, RPM Fusion, Remi do not support x86_64_v2, which severely limits the available software.<\/p>\n<h3>The Dealbreaker: Limited Third-Party Support<\/h3>\n<p>The main issue I encountered was the lack of third-party repository support for x86_64_v2. Essential packages like ZFS, PHP (Remi PHP), Redis, MariaDB (their official repo) and many others are simply unavailable unless you\u2019re willing to compile them from source. Some applications are working like handicap mode, such as Firefox, VLC because the required 3rd party plugins are not  available (e.g., H264 library, from RPM Fusion). While I appreciate AlmaLinux\u2019s effort to support older hardware, the ecosystem just isn\u2019t there yet. If most third-party repositories don\u2019t plan to support x86_64_v2, this version isn\u2019t practical for my needs.<\/p>\n<h3>Which Version Should You Use?<\/h3>\n<p>Choose AlmaLinux 10 x86_64_v2 if you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Only need applications from the AlmaLinux repositories<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t mind compiling software and drivers from source<\/li>\n<li>Want the latest packages (e.g., kernel 6.12, gcc 14.3, OpenSSH 9.9)<\/li>\n<li>Prefer a longer support lifecycle (EOL: 2030)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Stick with AlmaLinux 9 if you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rely on third-party repositories (e.g., ZFS, PHP 8.4, MariaDB 11, Redis 8.4)<\/li>\n<li>Prefer not to compile software yourself<\/li>\n<li>Are okay with older packages (e.g., kernel 5.14, gcc 11.5, OpenSSH 8.7)<\/li>\n<li>Can accept a shorter support window (EOL: 2027)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In summary, while AlmaLinux 10 x86_64_v2 is a great initiative for legacy hardware, its limited third-party support makes AlmaLinux 9 the more practical choice for now\u2014at least for those who depend on a broader software ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, I installed AlmaLinux 10 x86_64_v2 on several servers, hoping it would breathe new life into my older hardware (purchased between 2010 and 2015). After a few days of testing, <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/why-i-downgraded-from-almalinux-10-x86_64_v2-to-almalinux-9-on-my-servers\/\">Continue Reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1sqzr-1jt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3914,"url":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/zfs-linux-vs-freebsd\/","url_meta":{"origin":5051,"position":0},"title":"Running ZFS on Linux: Things you should know and be aware of","author":"Derrick","date":"February 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"First Published: Feb 29, 2016 Last Revised: January 10, 2026 ZFS is a next-generation file system renowned for its reliability and advanced features. However, due to legal and licensing issues, it is not included by default in most Linux distributions. Fortunately, you can still install (ZFS on Linux) with just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computer Problems&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computer Problems","link":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/category\/technology\/computer-problems-computer-help-pc-support\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4083,"url":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/rhel-7-mariadb-mysql-error-1018-hy000-cant-read-dir-of-errno-24\/","url_meta":{"origin":5051,"position":1},"title":"RHEL 7 \/ MariaDB \/ MySQL: ERROR 1018 (HY000): Can&#8217;t read dir of &#8216;.&#8217; (errno: 24)","author":"Derrick","date":"March 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, I decided to upgrade a database server from RHEL 6 (CentOS 6) to RHEL 7 (CentOS 7), which involves switching from MySQL 5.5 to MariaDB 5.5. Our server hosts about 100 databases, when I was testing them individually, I didn't see any problem. However, when I ran the back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computer Problems&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computer Problems","link":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/category\/technology\/computer-problems-computer-help-pc-support\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":923,"url":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/freebsd-or-linux\/","url_meta":{"origin":5051,"position":2},"title":"FreeBSD or Linux in 6 Simple Questions","author":"Derrick","date":"February 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"FreeBSD or Linux FreeBSD or Linux (Ubuntu\/RHEL)? This is a very old question. It's like asking iPhone or Android. There is no short answer. It all depends on your situation. To make things easier, I am going to break it down into six simple questions to help you making decision.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computer Problems&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computer Problems","link":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/category\/technology\/computer-problems-computer-help-pc-support\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3692,"url":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/centos-7-epel-remi-location\/","url_meta":{"origin":5051,"position":3},"title":"CentOS 7 EPEL \/ REMI Location","author":"Derrick","date":"July 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"CentOS 7 was released about a week ago, so I decided to give it a try. As you probably know, CentOS is a clone of Red Hat Enterprise Linux(RHEL). Typically, Red Hat put the new features in Fedora first. If things go well, they will move the new features to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Computer Problems&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Computer Problems","link":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/category\/technology\/computer-problems-computer-help-pc-support\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4286,"url":"https:\/\/icesquare.com\/wordpress\/how-to-install-zfs-on-rhel-centos-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":5051,"position":4},"title":"How to install ZFS on RHEL \/ CentOS 7","author":"Derrick","date":"January 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A friend of mine likes to try ZFS on CentOS 7, therefore I decide to make a guide for him. The following instructions have been well tested on CentOS 7. 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