# Upstream Kubernetes on Rocky Linux 9 OS

In our [June 2023](https://docs.rafay.co/releasenotes/2023/june/) monthly release, we added support for lifecycle management of Rafay managed [upstream Kubernetes](https://docs.rafay.co/clusters/upstream/baremetal_vm/overview/) clusters on nodes based on [Rocky Linux](https://rockylinux.org/).

Rafay has supported CentOS as an operating system for upstream Kubernetes clusters. With the [EOL of CentOS](https://endoflife.date/centos), several customers asked us to support Rocky Linux as an **alternative**.

## Background

Rocky Linux is an open-source enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Rocky Linux is a reliable and cost-effective choice for enterprises that need a stable and secure operating system.

Rocky Linux was founded in 2021 by Gregory Kurtzer, one of the co-founders of CentOS, after Red Hat discontinued CentOS. The OS is under intensive development by the community, and it is enterprise-ready, with regular updates and excellent stability.

Its compatibility with RHEL, focus on stability and security, low cost, customization options, and strong community support make it a good choice for many organizations.

The latest version of Rocky Linux is v9.0 and the lifecycle for each release is ten years at zero cost.

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## Lifecycle Management

Customers can now use the Rafay platform to configure, provision and operate upstream Kubernetes clusters based on Rocky Linux 9 based nodes. Customers can use either the **wizard style graphical interface** or the **declarative cluster specifications** to provision these clusters. The OS is automatically detected and all required management components are automatically and remotely installed from the Rafay Controller.

Once provisioned, clusters can be **scaled up/down** and can be **upgraded** in-place to latest versions of Kubernetes. Shown below is a view of a Rocky Linux v9 based node in a Kubernetes cluster provisioned and managed by the Rafay Platform.