This is a repackaged open source software product wherein additional charges apply for a hardened, minimal AlmaLinux 9.2 image: SELinux enforcing, root login disabled, key-only SSH, audit rules, PAM lockout and sysctl hardening, each verified on a booted instance. 8GB size (no LVM), UEFI/GPT, cloud-init, ENA and NVMe.
This is a repackaged open source software product wherein additional charges apply for a hardened, minimal AlmaLinux 9.2 image built and verified by Rinne Labs.
What you are paying for
AlmaLinux is free and open source software, downloadable at no cost from the AlmaLinux OS Foundation. This listing charges neither for the operating system nor for support.
The charge covers the hardened build: a security baseline applied to the image at build time, an automated assertion suite that proves every control of that baseline is live on a booted instance before the image is published, and continued rebuilds carrying current security updates.
Hardening baseline
Every control below is applied at build time and verified by an automated assertion against a booted instance before publication. The image records the baseline it carries in a versioned marker at /etc/rinne-labs-hardening.
SELinux enforcing, at runtime and persistently across reboots
Root login over SSH disabled
Key-only SSH: password and keyboard-interactive authentication refused
Reduced SSH surface: X11 forwarding off, lowered MaxAuthTries and LoginGraceTime, empty passwords and host-based authentication refused
Kernel network hardening via sysctl, confirmed live in the running kernel
Audit rules loaded in the running kernel, auditd enabled at boot
Account lockout via pam_faillock, with a bounded unlock interval and root exempt
Password quality enforcement via pam_pwquality
A default umask of 027 for login shells
Login banners on console and network logins
The default user's authorized_keys restricted to mode 0600
Key Features
Built from the official AlmaLinux 9.2 ISO, "Minimal Install" package group
8GB root volume, no LVM, for a fast boot and a small storage footprint
UEFI/GPT boot with an XFS root filesystem
cloud-init configured; root partition and filesystem grow to the volume size at first boot
Elastic Network Adapter (ENA) and NVMe drivers present and verified
AWS CLI preinstalled
Distribution security updates applied at build time
Ideal For
Apache HTTP Server and NGINX web and reverse-proxy tiers
PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB and MongoDB database hosts
Jenkins, GitLab CI and self-hosted GitHub Actions runners
Terraform, OpenTofu and Ansible control nodes
Docker and Podman container hosts, and Kubernetes worker nodes
Auto Scaling groups and immutable golden-image fleets
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I connect? SSH in as ec2-user with the key pair you chose at launch: ssh -i your-key.pem ec2-user@your-instance. Password login is disabled and root may not log in over SSH; run sudo -i for a root shell.
Do I need a subscription? No. AlmaLinux is free and open source, and the image updates from the distribution's public repositories.
Who maintains this image, and how often is it rebuilt? Rinne Labs. It is rebuilt as the distribution ships security updates and on each new release, and nothing is published until it passes the full assertion suite on a booted instance.
Why Rinne Labs
Every image comes out of the same reproducible, fully automated build pipeline, starting from the distribution's official ISO. Nothing is hand-edited in.
Every image is validated by an automated assertion suite against a booted instance, covering the hardening baseline, the cloud drivers, the repositories and the applied updates. An image that fails an assertion is not published.
"AlmaLinux" is a trademark of the AlmaLinux OS Foundation. Rinne Labs is an independent publisher, not affiliated with or endorsed by the AlmaLinux OS Foundation. This product repackages free and open source software; all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
THIS IMAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
Hardened at build time and proven on a booted instance before publication: SELinux enforcing, root login over SSH disabled, key-only authentication, a reduced SSH surface, kernel network hardening, audit rules loaded in the running kernel, account lockout and password quality through PAM, a 027 umask and login banners. Every control carries an automated assertion that must pass before the image ships, and the image records its baseline at /etc/rinne-labs-hardening.
Minimal by construction: built from the official AlmaLinux 9.2 ISO using only the "Minimal Install" package group, on an 8GB root volume with no LVM, UEFI/GPT boot and an XFS root filesystem. Fewer packages means a smaller attack surface, quicker launches for auto-scaling groups, and lower EBS cost on every instance you run.
Ready for AWS from first boot: cloud-init expands the root partition and filesystem to the volume size you launch with, the Elastic Network Adapter (ENA) and NVMe drivers are present and verified, and the AWS CLI is preinstalled.
AWS Marketplace now accepts line of credit payments through the PNC Vendor Finance program. This program is available to select AWS customers in the US, excluding NV, NC, ND, TN, & VT.
Try this product free for 14 days according to the free trial terms set by the vendor. Usage-based pricing is in effect for usage beyond the free trial terms. Your free trial gets automatically converted to a paid subscription when the trial ends, but may be canceled any time before that.
Pricing is based on actual usage, with charges varying according to how much you consume. Subscriptions have no end date and may be canceled any time. Alternatively, you can pay upfront for a contract, which typically covers your anticipated usage for the contract duration. Any usage beyond contract will incur additional usage-based costs.
Additional AWS infrastructure costs may apply. Use the AWS Pricing Calculator to estimate your infrastructure costs.
If you are an AWS Free Tier customer with a free plan, you are eligible to subscribe to this offer. You can use free credits to cover the cost of eligible AWS infrastructure. See AWS Free Tier for more details. If you created an AWS account before July 15th, 2025, and qualify for the Legacy AWS Free Tier, Amazon EC2 charges for Micro instances are free for up to 750 hours per month. See Legacy AWS Free Tier for more details.
You pay by the hour for this hardened, minimal AlmaLinux 9.2 image. Pricing is usage-based, so you are charged only for the hours each instance runs. There are no tiers or bundles. Instead, each dimension maps to a specific AWS EC2 instance type, from small general-purpose sizes to large compute, memory, storage, and GPU-optimized machines. Your hourly rate scales with the instance type you select. Larger or more specialized instances carry higher rates. You choose the instance that fits your workload, and the software cost applies on top of the underlying AWS infrastructure charge.
Top-of-mind questions for buyers
What do I actually get with each hourly instance dimension?
Each dimension maps to one AWS EC2 instance type running the hardened, minimal AlmaLinux 9.2 image. You get a single-volume machine with an expandable root disk, SELinux enabled, the root user disabled, and cloud-init ready. The hourly rate covers this software image; AWS bills the underlying compute separately.
Am I charged the software fee when my instance is stopped?
The hourly software charge applies only while the instance runs. A stopped or powered-off instance stops accruing the software fee. Note that AWS may still charge for attached storage on a stopped instance, but the AlmaLinux 9.2 image itself meters running hours only.
Do software updates or security patches cost extra on top of the hourly rate?
The image ships with the latest security updates available at its release date. RHUI-style update repositories are configured to keep the running image current at no additional cost. You pay only the hourly rate for the instance type you choose, plus the AWS infrastructure charge.
www.rinne-labs.com
Helpful?
Vendor refund policy
When paid hourly, the instance can be terminated at anytime to stop incurring charges and no refund is available. For the yearly subscribers, refund can be handled for the unused time.
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Vendors are responsible for their product descriptions and other product content. AWS does not warrant that vendors' product descriptions or other product content are accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free.
An AMI is a virtual image that provides the information required to launch an instance. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances are virtual servers on which you can run your applications and workloads, offering varying combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking resources. You can launch as many instances from as many different AMIs as you need.
AWS Support is a one-on-one, fast-response support channel that is staffed 24x7x365 with experienced and technical support engineers. The service helps customers of all sizes and technical abilities to successfully utilize the products and features provided by Amazon Web Services.
This is a repackaged open source software product wherein additional charges apply for seller hardening and maintenance. AlmaLinux 9.2 AMI ready to run on EC2 with SELinux enforcing, hardened SSH, fail2ban, CloudWatch Agent, AIDE, chrony, SSM Agent and AWS CLI v2.
AlmaLinux OS is an open-source, community owned and governed, forever-free enterprise Linux distribution, focused on long-term stability, providing a robust production-grade platform. AlmaLinux OS is binary compatible with RHEL®.
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