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Understanding CIQ Long Term Support Repositories

how-torepositoriesltsrocky linux

Stephen Simpson
Sr. Customer Success Engineer

Dec 12, 2025

Introduction

CIQ provides Long Term Support for Rocky Linux minor releases that have reached End of Life. This article explains how CIQ maintains and updates packages in the LTS repository.

Standard repositories vs. LTS repository

Standard repositories

When a Rocky Linux minor release reaches End of Life, for example Rocky 9.2, CIQ freezes all standard repositories in their final state and makes them available in Portal:

  • Rocky Linux 9.2 BaseOS - rocky-9.2-baseos.x86_64
  • Rocky Linux 9.2 AppStream - rocky-9.2-appstream.x86_64
  • Rocky Linux 9.2 extras - rocky-9.2-extras.x86_64

These repositories and others aren't updated after End of Life. They contain the original package versions from that release to satisfy package installation and dependencies.

LTS repository

CIQ maintains a separate LTS repository where patched package updates are published, for example:

  • Rocky Linux 9.2 CIQ Long Term Support - rlc-9.2-lts.x86_64

When CIQ patches packages for CVEs or critical bugs, CIQ publishes the updated packages to the LTS repository.

How to Use LTS Repositories

To find patched packages, use the LTS repository instead of standard repositories when using an LTS product.

Locating patched packages

In the CIQ customer portal, navigate to the LTS repository for your Rocky Linux version:

https://portal.ciq.com/products/88eb2f09-3146-49c3-b0ef-d2ea9705258e/repository/rlc-9.2-lts.x86_64

Browse to the appropriate package directory, for example /Packages/s/ for packages starting with 's'.

Installing from LTS

If you configure the LTS repository on your system, patched packages automatically update during regular updates because they have higher version numbers than the frozen standard repositories:

dnf update

Notes

  • LTS repositories are actively maintained throughout the support lifecycle.
  • Standard repositories remain frozen for reference and reproducibility.
  • Security-patched versions referenced in CIQ CSAF advisories are always in the LTS repository.
  • Patched packages in LTS have higher version numbers and automatically upgrade over frozen packages during dnf update.

References & related articles

CIQ Customer Portal Rocky Linux Documentation Rocky Linux Long Term Support