[CentOS-devel] Documenting the CentOS Linux 8 EOL process

On 7/8/21 12:44 PM, Alex Iribarren wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On 7/8/21 7:10 PM, Rich Bowen wrote:
>> 3. Turn off mirrorlist to that release name (aka all requests to
>> CentOS-8 will 404)
>> 4. Remove the data from the main mirrors with a file saying look at
>> vault.centos.org
>> 5. Mirrors pick all that up in 4-8 hours.
>>
> ...
> 
>> Are there any changes to this process that we *want* to advocate for,
>> given the special nature of this particular EOL? (No, I absolutely
>> cannot promise anything, but I can ask.)
> 
> 
> I'm not sure what the timelines for this whole process are, but I'd like
> to advocate for not deleting everything from the main mirrors on the
> 31st. Having the C8 content there for an extra month or so would be
> nice, particularly given the holiday period.
> 

Of course the problem with that is, we will not be adding any security
updates past that point.

I doubt it will happen exactly on Dec 31 as our people will not be
working because of the holiday on that date as well.

We are still working on the absolute details of this process as far as
exact dates go.  Our goal is, so long as RHEL 8.5 releases before 31 DEC
2021, we will get the files from 8.5 released before we remove CentOS
Linux 8 from the mirrors.  We will not be adding any updates from RHEL
source code released after 31 DEC 2021 to CentOS Linux 8.

This release will be put into at least vault.centos.org/8.5.xxxx/
(where xxxx is the date).  Of course, if the RHEL 8.5 release happens
after 01 Jan 2022, we would not be doing that release in CentOS Linux 8.

New items (to CentOS Stream 8) will be being built and still going into
CentOS Stream 8 after 01 JAN 2022 until CentOS Stream 8 EOLs 5 years
after the RHEL 8 release (EOL is 31 May 2024).

We do need to decide exactly when this will take place and get that info
out on this list.  But it likely needs to be soon after we stop
publishing updates as the moment a security update comes out in 2022,
you are at risk with CentOS 8 Linux from that point on.

You should absolutely have migrated well before this date to something
else.  That something else could be RHEL (7 or 8) .. OR

As fully free options, CentOS Linux 7 until 30 Jun 2024 OR CentOS Stream
8 OR one of the other downstream builds that exist.

We will post here what the exact removal date goal is.

Thanks,
Johnny Hughes