The AlmaLinux OS Foundation released AlmaLinux 10.2 Beta on May 4, 2026, opening the next point release of the enterprise Linux distribution for community testing. Codenamed Lavender Lion, this beta introduces i686 userspace package support, a significant round of updated developer toolchains, new security tooling, and a patch for the recently disclosed Copy Fail vulnerability. Beta ISOs are available now at Repo AlmaLinux.
This is a testing release. Production systems should not be upgraded until the stable version ships. The standout addition in AlmaLinux 10.2 is i686 userspace package support, and it is worth noting that this goes beyond what Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.2 itself provides.
RHEL 10 dropped 32-bit package support entirely starting with version 10.0. AlmaLinux is adding it back independently, specifically to help users and organizations that still run legacy 32-bit software, containerized 32-bit workloads, or CI pipelines that depend on i686 libraries. The support covers userspace packages only.
There are no i686 ISOs and no plan to support 32-bit bare-metal installations. The x86_64 host is required, with i686 packages functioning as a compatibility layer on top of it. This is one of the clearer examples of AlmaLinux diverging from RHEL on purpose.
Since dropping its 1:1 binary compatibility pledge with RHEL in 2023, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation has taken a more independent path on decisions like hardware support, extended driver re-enablement, and now 32-bit package availability. The i686 addition in 10.2 continues that trajectory.
On the developer toolchain side, AlmaLinux 10.2 Beta ships several updated language and database packages. Python moves to version 3.14, Ruby to 4.0, and PHP to 8.4. PostgreSQL 18 and MariaDB 11.8 are both included as new package versions.
SDL3 lands in the repositories alongside libkrun, which is a lightweight virtual machine library used for container isolation. Trustee and FIDO Device Onboard tooling also arrive in this release, expanding the security and device identity infrastructure available in the platform. Security updates run deeper than the toolchain alone.
AlmaLinux 10.2 Beta ships with updated OpenSSL, Keylime, and SELinux policies targeting a reduction in attack surface across the platform. Most significantly, this beta is already patched against Copy Fail, the kernel privilege escalation vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-31431.
That flaw, publicly disclosed on April 29, 2026, carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8 and affects kernels going back to a commit merged in 2017. AlmaLinux pushed patched kernels across its 8.x, 9.x, and 10.x branches ahead of the public disclosure. Users upgrading to 10.2 Beta will receive a patched kernel from the first boot.
AlmaLinux 10.2 Beta is available for six architectures:
- Intel/AMD x86_64
- Intel/AMD x86_64_v2
- Intel/AMD i686
- ARM64 aarch64
- IBM PowerPC ppc64le
- IBM Z s390x
The x86_64_v2 architecture support is worth a specific mention. When AlmaLinux OS 10 launched, RHEL had raised the minimum x86_64 microarchitecture baseline to v3, which dropped support for a wide range of older but still usable CPUs.
AlmaLinux chose to maintain an x86_64_v2 build alongside the default v3 build, allowing organizations running older server hardware to stay on a supported enterprise Linux platform without replacing perfectly functional machines.
AlmaLinux 10 will receive active support until May 31, 2030, with extended security support running through May 31, 2035. Each minor version reaches its end of life when the next minor version ships, so AlmaLinux 10.1 will retire when AlmaLinux 10.2 stable is released.
For organizations currently running AlmaLinux 10.1, the ELevate upgrade tool supports in-place migration across major versions of enterprise Linux. The AlmaLinux team has explicitly warned that the beta upgrade path should not be used on production machines, but testers with spare hardware or virtual environments are encouraged to run through the upgrade and report any issues on the AlmaLinux Bug Tracker.
The AlmaLinux community can also engage through the AlmaLinux Community Chat on the dedicated testing channel, the 10.2 Beta forum thread, and the AlmaLinux subreddit. Feedback from community testers directly shapes what gets resolved before stable ships. The AlmaLinux OS Foundation has also announced AlmaLinux Day: Los Angeles on July 18, 2026, where contributors and community members can connect in person.
Full details, known issues, and download links for AlmaLinux 10.2 Beta are available in the official announcement.
