Chapter 3. Distribution of content in RHEL 10
3.1. Installation
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 is installed using ISO images. Two types of ISO image are available for the AMD64, Intel 64-bit, 64-bit ARM, IBM Power Systems, and IBM Z architectures:
Installation ISO: A full installation image that contains the BaseOS and AppStream repositories and allows you to complete the installation without additional repositories. On the Product Downloads page, the
Installation ISOis referred to asBinary DVD.NoteThe Installation ISO image is in multiple GB size, and as a result, it might not fit on optical media formats. A USB key or USB hard drive is recommended when using the Installation ISO image to create bootable installation media. You can also use the Image Builder tool to create customized RHEL images. For more information about Image Builder, see the Composing a customized RHEL system image document.
- Boot ISO: A minimal boot ISO image that is used to boot into the installation program. This option requires access to the BaseOS and AppStream repositories to install software packages. The repositories are part of the Installation ISO image. You can also register to Red Hat CDN or Satellite during the installation to use the latest BaseOS and AppStream content from Red Hat CDN or Satellite.
3.2. Repositories
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 is distributed through two main repositories:
- BaseOS
- AppStream
Both repositories are required for a basic RHEL installation, and are available with all RHEL subscriptions.
Content in the BaseOS repository is intended to provide the core set of the underlying operating system functionality that provides the foundation for all installations. This content is available in the RPM format and is subject to support terms similar to those in previous releases of RHEL.
Content in the AppStream repository includes additional user-space applications, runtime languages, and databases in support of the varied workloads and use cases.
In addition, the CodeReady Linux Builder repository is available with all RHEL subscriptions. It provides additional packages for use by developers. Packages included in the CodeReady Linux Builder repository are unsupported.
3.3. Application Streams
Multiple versions of user-space components are delivered as Application Streams and updated more frequently than the core operating system packages. This provides greater flexibility to customize RHEL without impacting the underlying stability of the platform or specific deployments.
Application Streams are available in the following formats:
- RPM format
- Software Collections
- Flatpaks
In previous RHEL major versions, some Application Streams were available as modules as an extension to the RPM format. In RHEL 10, Red Hat does not intend to provide any Application Streams that use modularity as the packaging technology and, therefore, no modular content is being distributed with RHEL 10.
Each Application Stream component has a given life cycle, either the same as RHEL 10 or shorter.
RHEL 10 improves the Application Streams experience by providing initial Application Stream versions that can be installed as RPM packages using the dnf install command.
Certain initial Application Streams in the RPM format have a shorter life cycle than Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.
Always determine what version of an Application Stream you want to install.
Content that needs rapid updating, such as alternate compilers and container tools, is available in rolling streams that will not provide alternative versions in parallel.
