How to Build a FIPS + FedRAMP-Ready Environment in 2026: AlmaLinux & Rocky Linux
I wrote this for TuxCare to answer a question I hear the moment a compliance team joins the conversation: can we actually meet our regulatory requirements on a community OS like AlmaLinux? The honest answer is yes, but not with the community edition alone, so I broke down what compliance really requires and where the gaps are.
Originally published on TuxCare Read the full article →A few things I wanted people to walk away with:
- Frameworks don’t certify “just the OS.” FIPS 140-3 and FedRAMP expect validated cryptography, hardened baselines, continuous scanning, and documented control mappings, all working together.
- The gaps in community Linux are real. There’s no vendor-backed FIPS validation, no FedRAMP alignment out of the box, and no automated CIS or STIG enforcement, which leaves teams doing slow, error-prone manual work.
- TES closes those gaps. It provides validated FIPS modules, FedRAMP-aligned hardening for AlmaLinux, CIS/STIG automation, and up to 16 years of security updates.
You can stay compliant on AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux without abandoning open source, but you need the enterprise layer that produces the evidence auditors want.