title: "CentOS Stream FAQ" mardown: basic is_dynamic: true

CentOS Stream Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question that isn't answered here, please email the centos-devel mailing list.

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What is CentOS Stream?

CentOS Stream is a developer-forward distribution that aims to help community members, Red Hat partners and others take full advantage of open source innovation within a more stable and predictable Linux ecosystem. Its content is what Red Hat intends to be in the next update of a stable RHEL release It is free for anyone to download, use, study, modify, and redistribute (with the exception of the CentOS trademarks, which are owned by Red Hat). CentOS Stream is a distribution that community members can use to take advantage of a stable ABI/API for development and testing, while still seeing some updates on an accelerated basis.

How do I download CentOS Stream?

CentOS Stream is available on the CentOS downloads page

How do I file bugs against CentOS Stream?

File bugs against the CentOS product in Red Hat Bugzilla.

Where is the source code?

The source code in CentOS Stream is stored per package at in the CentOS git server.

What artifacts are built?

• Yum repositories
  • x86_64
  • ppc64le
  • aarch64
• EC2 images
  • x86_64
  • ppc64le
  • aarch64
• Generic cloud images
  • x86_64
  • ppc64le
  • aarch64
• Vagrant images
  • x86_64

Note: CentOS Stream does not include container images. The current recommendation is to use Red Hat Universal Base Image (UBI) and include centos-release-stream (link coming!).

What architectures are included?

Currently, x86_64, aarch64, and ppc64le are included. By December 2020, arm7hfp will be included. Inclusion of s390x (IBM System Z) has not yet been scoped and is unlikely during CY2020.

Is there a daily CentOS Stream "release"? How frequently is it released?

There is a nightly compose for release verification purposes. We are currently pushing CentOS Stream to http://mirror.centos.org/centos/8-stream/ on a case-by-case basis as new packages come in.

What happens when CentOS Stream switches from RHEL 8 to RHEL 9 based content?

Around the time the RHEL 9 Public Beta is issued, an additional set of CentOS Stream repositories and ISOs will be available. The existing CentOS Stream repositories representing RHEL 8 bits will continue to be available, and changes to these bits will continue as before, until approximately one year after the general availability of RHEL 9. At that time, the older repositories will be discontinued, although sources will continue to be available.

As the cut-over approaches, Red Hat will evaluate the situation at that time to determine how long the overlap will be. CentOS Stream is envisioned for primary use in situations where pinning to a specific set of binaries for the long-term is not required. Therefore the goal of the overlap is to serve either specific development needs or to allow for time for testing and upgrades.

What does this mean for CentOS Linux?

CentOS Stream is separate from CentOS Linux.