Convert2RHEL 2.0.0: Migrate old CentOS systems to Red Hat
Red Hat is expanding the functions of Convert2RHEL. The tool can be used to convert old CentOS systems or the Enterprise Linux competition.
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With version 2.0.0, Red Hat is updating its Convert2RHEL tool. This is a tool that allows users to convert their CentOS installations or compatible Linux distributions to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
CentOS 7 has been without support since June 2024, which made it necessary to update the tool. On the one hand, users can now switch to RHEL 7 Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS), which will receive updates until June 2028. Old CentOS systems can also be migrated to RHEL 7 without ELS, although Red Hat only provides for this as an intermediate step to RHEL 8 or 9.
At the same time, Convert2RHEL is intended to attract users who have switched to one of the alternatives: Enterprise Linux installations of version 8.10 can now also be converted to RHEL 8.10. The EL is a CentOS competitor product, including AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux or Oracle Enterprise Linux. The latter usually offer comparable tools for migrating away from Red Hat, including migrate2Rocky or ELevate from AlmaLinux.
Register with Satellite before the migration
Another change concerns systems connected to a Satellite service. Satellite is Red Hat's system management software, more specifically a staging environment for patch and lifecycle management. Previously, Convert2RHEL required manual intervention during migration so that the system could register in Satellite. Now the tool prompts you to register before the conversion run.
Convert2RHEL appears as free software; the release notes can be found on the project page on GitHub. Anyone using their own scripts with the tool should pay particular attention to some command line commands that have been dropped before using the new version.
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