[SOLVED] Will RHEL expire?

penyuan · 05-08-2012, 03:10 AM

Hello,

If I buy a subscription to RHEL 6.2 today, I understand that it needs to be renewed every year. Does that mean if I buy and install RHEL, it will expire and stop working a year from now unless I renew my subscription? Or does it just mean I will no longer receive support, but can still use my installation of RHEL and have access to my version's repositories?

Thanks!

acid_kewpie · 05-08-2012, 03:12 AM

no, it is the acccess to updates and support that stops, not the software. RHN access will stop, you won't be able to install new software from the RHN repos.

penyuan · 05-08-2012, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acid_kewpie

no, it is the acccess to updates and support that stops, not the software. RHN access will stop, you won't be able to install new software from the RHN repos.

I see, so looks like basically all software updates would stop but the system would still work. Would I be able to change my update repositories to that of CentOS or Scientific Linux to continue receiving unofficial updates? Those distributions should be fully compatible right? (I am just curious

)
Thanks for your quick reply!

acid_kewpie · 05-08-2012, 03:28 AM

Yes, you can totally convert the system to CentOS if you wish. Note that the system will rebrand AS CentOS, not just get updates from elsewhere. It'll work just fine, but little things like images etc will change.

penyuan · 05-08-2012, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acid_kewpie

Yes, you can totally convert the system to CentOS if you wish. Note that the system will rebrand AS CentOS, not just get updates from elsewhere. It'll work just fine, but little things like images etc will change.

Understood, thanks!

salasi · 05-08-2012, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by penyuan

I see, so looks like basically all software updates would stop but the system would still work. Would I be able to change my update repositories to that of CentOS or Scientific Linux to continue receiving unofficial updates? Those distributions should be fully compatible right? (I am just curious

)
Thanks for your quick reply!

If using Centos or Scientific is acceptable to you, why not just start with one of those? (I'm not saying whether you should or shouldn't, just that it seems to avoid a layer of complexity, down the road.)

Keep in mind the fact that if security is important to you (and it should be, to a greater or lesser extent, depending on what the box is doing), you do want to be getting security updates, even if new features are low down your priority list.

penyuan · 05-08-2012, 04:46 PM

Yes, after reading your responses I think sticking to CentOS or Scientific Linux is more than enough for me. Thanks!