DHIS2 Hearts Ubuntu

The reasons behind the migration

In 2012, BAO Systems made a strategic decision to adopt CentOS as the primary operating system for our DHIS2 servers. While hard to pinpoint an exact figure, in the early 2010s roughly 1/3 of all web servers ran on CentOS.

At the time, CentOS was an attractive choice for several reasons: 

• It offered a stable and reliable environment. 
• It was a free and open-source distribution that was functionally compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), which provided us with a robust and secure platform with which to build our ecosystem atop. 
• Its long-term support and regular updates were ahead of its peers.

Predictable release cycles and extended support periods meant that we could plan our infrastructure upgrades and maintenance with confidence. This stability was essential for maintaining our service levels and ensuring we were always up-to-date with the latest security patches. However, good things can only last so long.

Shortly after IBM purchased Red Hat in 2019, CentOS announced a change in its focus. It was moving from CentOS Linux to CentOS Stream, which tracks just ahead of a current RHEL release. 

Now CentOS Stream would no longer be a downstream rebuild of RHEL, but an upstream rolling-release distribution just after Fedora. While this approach has benefits for IBM and Red Hat, it did not align with our need for a stable and predictable DHIS2 hosting environment.

After much deliberation, BAO Systems made the decision to migrate to Ubuntu in late 2023. Ubuntu is now and has been, a leading choice for enterprises due to its strong focus on security, regular release cycles, and comprehensive support options. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, offers long-term support releases that provide five years of security updates and maintenance. 

The decision to migrate to Ubuntu was also driven by the vibrant and active community that surrounds it. From the beginning, it was and still is the preferred Linux operating system by the DHIS 2 developers at the University of Oslo.

Ubuntu’s popularity means that there is a wealth of resources, forums, and third-party tools available to support our transition. By adopting Ubuntu, we are positioning BAO Systems to take advantage of the latest innovations in open-source technology all while maintaining the stability and security that our clients depend on.

Around December 2024, when CentOS Linux was completely no longer supported by Red Hat, we procured long-term security updates from a third party for our existing CentOS fleet. Unfortunately, these only cover so many versions of Java, Tomcat, OpenSSH, and Nginx. 

The newer versions of DHIS2 are aging out of even this extended security support. As a result we’re quickening our pace of migrations starting in January 2025. We’re starting with the non-production servers and will work with each client individually to schedule their production migration to minimize downtime and data stream impact.

While CentOS served us well for many years, its conversion to a rolling release caused us to take a step back and reevaluate our needs and those of whom we serve. Our migration to Ubuntu, which is still ongoing, reflects our commitment to leveraging the best available technology to support our clients. 

We are confident that this transition will provide us with a stable, secure, and innovative platform for the future, ensuring that we continue to deliver exceptional service to you, our clients.

Timothy Harding,

IT Director at BAO Systems