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Elastic Compute Service:Compatibility between AMD instance types and operating systems

Last Updated:Jul 27, 2023

This topic describes the versions of operating system images that are compatible with AMD instance types.

Background information

AMD instance types are new offerings released by Alibaba Cloud. AMD instance types are powered by AMD EPYCTM x86 microprocessors. The following AMD instance families are available:

Eighth-generation AMD instance family powered by AMD Genoa processors

Seventh-generation AMD instance family powered by AMD Milan processors

Sixth-generation AMD instance family powered by AMD Rome processors

  • g8a, general-purpose instance family

  • c8a, compute-optimized instance family

  • r8a, memory-optimized instance family

  • g8ae, general-purpose instance family with enhanced performance

  • c8ae, compute-optimized instance family with enhanced performance

  • r8ae, memory-optimized instance family with enhanced performance

  • g7a, general-purpose instance family

  • c7a, compute-optimized instance family

  • r7a, memory-optimized instance family

  • g6a, general-purpose instance family

  • c6a, compute-optimized instance family

  • r6a, memory-optimized instance family

For more information, see Overview of instance families.

Compatibility

Different generations of AMD instance types are compatible with different operating system versions. The AMD Zen architecture was released in 2017. Some new features of processors on the AMD Zen architecture are not supported by earlier operating system versions. The following tables describe the operating system versions that support the AMD processors used by different generations of AMD instance types, and provide the official documentation about compatibility for your reference. You can determine the operating system version that you need based on your applications.

Usage suggestions:

  • When you purchase AMD instance types, we recommend that you use operating system versions that are officially supported.

  • If you want to use earlier operating system versions, use other instance types.

Important

If you use operating system versions that are not officially supported with AMD instance types, proceed at your own risk.

Operating system versions that support the AMD Genoa processors used by eighth-generation AMD instance types

The following table describes the operating system versions that support AMD Genoa processors.

Operating system

Official compatible operating system version

Official documentation about compatibility

Known incompatibility risk

Windows

  • Windows Server 2019

  • Windows Server 2022

Windows Server support and installation instructions for the AMD EPYC 9004 Series server processors

None

Linux

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 3

  • Redhat 8.6 +

  • Ubuntu 20.04.5+/22.04

None

Operating system versions that support the AMD Milan processors used by seventh-generation AMD instance types

The following table describes the operating system versions that support AMD Milan processors.

Operating system

Official compatible operating system version

Official documentation about compatibility

Known incompatibility risk

Windows

  • Windows Server 2012 R2

  • Windows Server 2016

  • Windows Server 2019

Install Windows Server on a computer that uses AMD EPYC 7002 and 7003 Series processors

None.

Linux

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 2/3

  • CentOS/Redhat 8.3+

  • Ubuntu 18.04.5+/20.04

When you start Ubuntu 16 or Debian 9 on a seventh-generation AMD instance, such as g7a instance, system panic occurs. To resolve this issue, install the required patch. For more information, see Re: [PATCH v6 00/12] SVM cleanup and INVPCID feature support. After you install the patch and start Ubuntu 16 or Debian 9 on the instance, the instance may be unstable.

Operating system versions that support the AMD Rome processors used by sixth-generation AMD instance types

The following table describes the operating system versions that support AMD Rome processors.

Operating system

Official compatible operating system version

Official documentation about compatibility

Known incompatibility risk

Windows

  • Windows Server 2012 R2

  • Windows Server 2016

  • Windows Server 2019

Windows Server support and installation instructions for the AMD Rome family of processors

None

Linux

  • Alibaba Cloud Linux 2

  • CentOS 7.6/7.7/7.8/7.9/8.0/8.1/8.2/8.3

  • Ubuntu 16.04/18.04/20.04

None