AWS has announced the public preview of Amazon Linux 2027, the next generation of its Linux distribution and the successor to Amazon Linux 2023. The new release brings a major platform refresh, including Linux kernel 7.1, DNF5, GCC 16, Python 3.14, and SELinux running in enforcing mode by default.
Designed specifically for workloads on AWS, Amazon Linux 2027 targets web applications, databases, containerized microservices, AI and machine learning workloads, and large-scale infrastructure.
One noticeable change is the move to Linux kernel 7.1. For comparison, Amazon Linux 2023 uses kernel 6.1 by default, with newer 6.12 LTS and 6.18 LTS kernels also available.
Moreover, security defaults are now stricter. SELinux, which runs in permissive mode by default on AL2023, is now set to enforcing mode. Amazon Linux 2027 also uses AWS-LC to improve cryptographic performance.
The development stack has received a substantial upgrade. GCC jumps from 11.5 to 16.1, glibc from 2.34 to 2.43, binutils from 2.41 to 2.46, and LLVM/Clang updates to version 22. AWS notes that software compiled on AL2023 should generally run on AL2027, though rebuilding with GCC 16 may reveal warnings or errors due to stricter defaults.
Package management changes significantly with DNF5 5.4 replacing DNF 4.14. Both dnf and yum commands now invoke DNF5, while the old python3-dnf API is no longer available. Applications depending on that API must use python3-libdnf5 instead.
Other notable updates include RPM 6.0, systemd 260, and Python 3.14 as the default python3, compared with Python 3.9 in Amazon Linux 2023. System V service script support has been removed from systemd, and PCRE1 dropped entirely in favor of PCRE2. Traditional zlib 1.2.11 is replaced by zlib-ng 2.3 via a compatibility package.
For AI and machine learning workloads, Amazon Linux 2027 includes access to accelerator drivers, including support for AWS Neuron, the SDK used with AWS Trainium and Inferentia hardware.
The public preview is available across all commercial AWS Regions, with Amazon Machine Images offered for both x86-64 and ARM systems. AWS is also publishing AL2027 container base images through the Amazon ECR Public Gallery.
However, AWS stresses that Amazon Linux 2027 is still a preview release for evaluation and testing, not production workloads. Preview instances do not automatically receive updates by default, including critical security fixes, so users testing the distribution must update their systems manually.
For additional details, see the official announcement.
