OpenELA has announced a new branch of the Leapp open source project, delivering expanded upgrade tooling for all Enterprise Linux variants. Previously focused on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Leapp now offers broader support, enabling safer and more automated upgrades across the Enterprise Linux ecosystem.

The updated tooling includes critical new features such as kernel compatibility verification, detection of unsupported configurations, and expanded pre- and post-upgrade checklists. Enterprise users will also benefit from support for SELinux, FIPS mode, kexec fast reboots, and improved handling of network storage configurations.

“OpenELA aims to help enterprise customers navigate the challenges of upgrading their operating systems to modern versions,” said Greg Marsden, senior vice president of Linux development, Oracle. “Changes to core underlying frameworks like SELinux and systemd can impact upgrades, so it is important for customers to be able to upgrade their operating systems safely between major versions. Previously these capabilities were only available for Oracle Linux customers, and I’m pleased that Oracle is contributing these features – and several new enhancements — to the broader OpenELA community.”

The initiative enhances cross-vendor collaboration, with contributions from Oracle, CIQ (creator of Rocky Linux), and SUSE. Gregory Kurtzer, CEO of CIQ, emphasized Leapp’s role in system migrations, highlighting the importance of vendor-neutral open source development. SUSE’s Brent Schroeder noted that seamless upgrade capabilities are vital for customers in regulated environments who must maintain compliance and business continuity.

These enhancements are designed to meet the upgrade needs of the entire Enterprise Linux community. OpenELA will continue to develop the Leapp project to support additional use cases and improve manageability across all OpenELA-compatible distributions.

Leapp serves as an “expert advisor” during OS upgrades by generating suggested actions, identifying risks, creating checklists, and automating key steps—streamlining the upgrade process for system administrators.