AlmaLinux has taken applications into its certification programme for the first time. Software vendors can list products in the new catalogue and state which AlmaLinux versions they support; after registering, users can confirm that an application works on their version. Because there is no automatic test suite for software — unlike for hardware — the decisive question is who confirmed compatibility: a community member, the vendor, or the AlmaLinux OS Foundation. An entry is valid for one major version, so AlmaLinux 9 does not automatically carry over to AlmaLinux 10. The project stresses that "certification" here means compatibility, not a security review or regulatory approval.
For hardware, the distribution has rewritten its test suite. The RPM package alma-certify lives in the Extras repository and installs with dnf install alma-certify; alternatively the check can be started from an AlmaLinux live system, so the distribution does not have to be permanently installed on the machine under test. Running alma-certify without arguments walks the user through the available test options.
The suite records processors, memory, drives, network and graphics hardware as well as firmware and driver versions. Benchmarks remain possible but no longer run by default; results of optional performance tests feed into public comparison lists. According to the project, a hardware run finishes in under ten minutes on most systems.
The catalogue at catalog.almalinux.org brings systems, components and software together and marks whether an entry came from a vendor, the Foundation or the community; the data is also available through a publicly readable API. AlmaLinux is not alone in this: in the Rocky Linux ecosystem, the services firm CIQ has operated C3, a public compatibility catalogue for hardware and software, since April 2026 — distinguishing community reports, vendor testing and formal CIQ certification in much the same way.
