Oracle Linux is mainly used for deploying Oracle databases. It can be used for a multitude of other functions. There are modules that can be implemented on systems to cater to your organization's needs.
Cyber security manager at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Highly secure, frequently updated, and great technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are performance, frequent update patches, and security."
- "The solution could improve by giving the client or customer more control."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are performance, frequent update patches, and security.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve by giving the client or customer more control.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately five years.
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Oracle Linux
January 2026
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have found the solution to be scalable. They have other options available, such as cloud and hybrid versions.
How are customer service and support?
If you have premium technical support it is great, they have been responsive in solving our issues.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is easy, there are readily available reference guides you can utilize to complete the installation. It took approximately two hours to complete the install.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment and maintenance are done by vendor teams.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a license required for this solution and we are on an annual license.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution to others.
I rate Oracle Linuxan eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Data Solution Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to install, stable and scalable, with good support
Pros and Cons
- "The good thing about Oracle Linux is that it's free, as long as you don't want support."
- "They should increase security."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution internally to develop our systems.
Our developers work in another section to develop the data center. We provide services to the developers and other business units.
What is most valuable?
It's a good product, and the areas to improve are quite limited.
The good thing about Oracle Linux is that it's free, as long as you don't want support. If you want the support you have to pay for it.
What needs improvement?
They don't provide updates.
It could be more secure. They should increase security.
Also, the scalability should be improved.
In the next release, I would like to see it more secure and more usable to adapt to the new technologies that are coming up.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for two years.
We are using the latest version. We are always updating.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a very stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's a scalable solution. It's basic Linux clustering and high availability. We have approximately 20 users in our organization.
Their support is quite good.
How are customer service and technical support?
We are satisfied with technical support. There is no need to be improved. There is no need to be faster, more knowledgeable, or customer friendly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also use SUSE Linux, Ubuntu Linux, CentOS, and Red Hat Linux.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is quite straightforward.
It takes about an hour to install.
We need a team of two people who concentrate on Oracle Linux.
What about the implementation team?
I am able to complete the installation myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Oracle Linux is free, you only pay for support.
If you don't want support you can fully pay for the enterprise solution.
It's cheaper than RedHat. Oracle support is a bit cheaper than Red Hat's support.
Oracle Linux is very cheap at this time.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I would rate Oracle Linux and eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Oracle Linux
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about Oracle Linux. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,665 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Sr. System and Storage Administrator at a government with 51-200 employees
Useful for hosting other Oracle products
Pros and Cons
- "It's very useful for hosting other Oracle products."
- "We'd like it if it was a bit more secure."
What is our primary use case?
We are primarily using the solution for our Oracle Database.
What is most valuable?
The solution is very, very stable. The performance is reliable.
It's very useful for hosting other Oracle products.
The solution is very scalable. You can expand it if needed.
Technical support is very good. They have been responsive and they understand the product.
The initial setup is quick and easy. It doesn't take too long.
The pricing of the solution is not too high. It's reasonable.
What needs improvement?
The security could always be slightly improved on the product. We'd like it if it was a bit more secure.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for a couple of years at this point. It's been a while. I have some experience with it at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's very reliable in terms of performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so with relative ease. It's not a problem.
We currently have about 50 people on the solution.
We do plan to increase the usage in the future.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is good. They are helpful and responsive. We are quite happy with the level of support we have received from them so far. They are available when we need them.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we had a mixed environment and we were using all sorts of operating systems.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not overly difficult or complex. We found the process to be very straightforward. The deployment itself was fast.
We have two members of the technical team that can handle any maintenance required.
What about the implementation team?
We handled the implementation ourselves. We did not need the assistance of a consultant or implementor.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We pay for a license on a yearly basis. It's not an overly expensive product. It's affordable.
What other advice do I have?
We're using the latest version of the solution at this time.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. We're quite happy with the capabilities of the solution so far. It works as expected and does what we need it to do.
I would recommend the solution to other users and organizations.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Has a more stable kernel than Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Pros and Cons
- "We use Oracle Linux to test our software, and we also recommend Oracle Linux to our customers."
- "The download speed is not good. Oracle can improve their servers capacity, especially in Asia."
What is our primary use case?
We used Oracle Enterprise Linux to replace a Red Hat Enterprise Linux environment because Oracle Linux rolled out a new kernel. We thought it might be more stable than our previous edition.
How has it helped my organization?
We have maybe 10 to 15 engineers using Oracle Linux to test the software environment. It has a more stable kernel than Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
What needs improvement?
Oracle Linux is almost the same as Red Hat, but it takes a long time to download, in comparison. The download speed is not good. Oracle can improve their servers capacity, especially in Asia.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Oracle Linux for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's stable. We use Oracle Linux because it has a stable kernel, perhaps, more so than other vendors.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable product.
How are customer service and technical support?
It's not easy to obtain Oracle Linux support from emails or telephone support. We tend to look at the Knowledge Base. Oracle's Knowledge Base is excellent.
How was the initial setup?
It is easy to install and only took about 30 minutes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We use Oracle Linux to test our software, and we also recommend Oracle Linux to our customers. We also recommend the purchasing of a license to activate the product. If our customers want to install Oracle Linux on multiple servers, perhaps Oracle could offer some good discounts, but these would need to be negotiated.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We used several kinds of Linux. Something like SUSE Linux, Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu Linux, and Oracle Linux but especially those with stable kernels. In some software environments, we do not need a stable kernel's performance level, but the machine may be stable in most cases. Before this year, we used Ubuntu. Ubuntu is speedy but not very stable. Its development is very quickly rolled out, and they change it every half year.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Oracle Linux an eight out of 10. Linux Enterprise is used in our customer's data center. The users may use a lot of server resources, so we recommend they buy a license. Sometimes they need to buy hundreds of server licenses, so the price consideration is important as the licensing is expensive. Our customers tend to use other editions such as CentOS, and other free editions. However, the free editions are not stable. Indeed, the free version provided by Oracle is not stable.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Manager of Customer Services at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to use, stable, good patching capability, and secure by default
Pros and Cons
- "The user interface is comfortable and easy to use."
- "The GUI could be made more attractive."
What is our primary use case?
We are using it as a DNS server.
We also have Oracle Vault and Oracle Fire installed on it. We are planning to use it as a model system, for learning.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is its stability. I adore the stability.
It is easy to use. The patching, connectivity, and storage are all good.
The iSCSI support is helpful.
This product is very secure by default. You should be able to use everything that you want to use. If you need to employ any service then you should enable the security for it.
The user interface is comfortable and easy to use.
What needs improvement?
The GUI could be made more attractive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Oracle Linux for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
it is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Oracle Linux is not really scalable.
We have two or three direct users, on top of 1,050 who use it indirectly.
How are customer service and technical support?
We do not use any technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have also used Red Hat Linux, although we stopped using it about three years ago.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It takes maybe two days to complete. the first day is for installation and preparation, and another day is required for patching. It takes a long time to complete patching and updates.
What about the implementation team?
I deployed it myself. Only one administrator is required for deployment and maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
There are many different flavors of Linux but I haven't gone deep enough in them to compare them all.
What other advice do I have?
Oracle Linux is a product that I recommend.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Core functionality is good, stable and can install in an hour
Pros and Cons
- "Once installed, the product is good, I like it. The core of the software is really good."
- "The installation documentation needs to be improved"
What is our primary use case?
I am using the solution for a project that I am trying to migrate it to the cloud. My experience with the cloud is at the beginners level. I haven't tested the solution very much yet but according to the published documentation, opinions etc., I see that Oracle Linux is the closest to my needs for future migration to the cloud.
What is most valuable?
Once installed, the product is good, I like it. The core of the software is really good.
What needs improvement?
The installation documentation needs to be improved, especially the current installation guide. For example it states that it is needed to format and to store the installation ISO on a DVD, but this is not possible to do in 8.0+ versions, as the ISO files are 7-9GB - greater than 4GB and the regular DVDs do not support it. The actual 8.3 version ISO cannot be put on USB either, as a file as the setup requires the 9GB ISO also as a file, but this imposes the use of exFAT instead of FAT32, which is not supported by the system boot. Therefore I installed 8.1 from USB, which went just fine and upgraded to 8.3 afterwards with YUM.
My network card is supported by 5.3 kernel (UEK), but not supported by the 4.x RedHat kernel used too, which I had to realize by chance. My video and network cards are not completely supported in the 8.1-8.3 versions, better compatibility with up-to-date hardware is needed. When looking for compatible drivers, there was no clear statement which drivers are supported. Better directions are needed regarding hardware drivers and how to obtain them.
From my experience with Oracle, I completely rely on its documentation and its presence, completeness and reliability was one of the reasons to choose Oracle Linux. The documentation I see worked for 8.1 or 8.2 setups, but not for 8.3. It needs update - Oracle Linux 8.3 changed the installation procedure and doesn't match the documentation. My experience with Oracle is that what is written in the documentation just works. This time it did not help.
The ability to update the look-and-feel of the Desktop UI would be beneficial - the current one is pale to my taste, it is black, grey and white.
They could provide more repositories of tested software, or at least refer to them and comment on their use.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for less than two weeks.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used CentOS for an year and a half. Now I had the chance to choose my OS considering my plans for cloud development and also the resent concerns about the future support of CentOS, I chose Oracle Linux 8.3
How was the initial setup?
In the 8.1 version, the setup works fine but it is when trying to install from an USB instead of DVD as it is written in the documentation. There were issues with the 8.3 installation - see above.
The installation of version 8.1, however, was good and worked fine. Some my attempts to install compatible drivers for my hardware failed and I had to reinstall the whole OS. The third time doing the install, it only took me one hour, it was easy. I achieved some compromise between up to date video (nouveau instead of Nvidia) and wifi (iwlwifi of Intel) drives and the system now works really fine.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I decided based on my experience with CentOS, Ubuntu, Kali Linux.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Oracle Linux an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Independent Consultant at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
A stable solution for servers with easy deployment
Pros and Cons
- "The product is 99.99% stable."
- "Pricing could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution on our server and premises.
What needs improvement?
Pricing could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Oracle Linux for a few years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is 99.99% stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very scalable. Sixty-five users are using it.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It comes with an annual subscription.
What other advice do I have?
If you were to buy Oracle Data Vault or something similar, it includes a firewall. Securing the DPU with Oracle Data Vault is great, but it costs a fortune.
In data center operations, we use distributors. As far as I know, it's distributed across sixteen sites. Besides Oracle Linux, we have other solutions such as Oracle Forms, Reports, and EDS.
I would advise knowing the number of calls and CPUs required for each application and their allocation.
Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Software and Cloud Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Easy deployment and stable but documentation capabilities could be better
Pros and Cons
- "It is good for web, network, and file management."
- "There can be improvements to the documentation capabilities."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for deploying and managing operating systems and web servers. It is good for web, network, and file management.
What is most valuable?
The ease of deployment is very valuable because the deployment process is straightforward to manage.
What needs improvement?
The documentation capabilities could be better. Although it is sufficient, other solutions provide better documentation.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for two years and have used a variety of versions.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable and we have no issues with it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable, and it is easy to patch.
How are customer service and support?
We have no experience with customer service and support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. However, it may be more challenging to set up for people with no experience.
What other advice do I have?
I rate this solution a seven out of ten because there can be improvements to the documentation capabilities and the communities around them.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Updated: January 2026
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