Amazon Web Services continues to innovate in its managed services, focusing on simplifying and evolving their tools to meet the ever-changing demands of the industry. Recently, a delightful advancement is that Amazon EMR on EKS has now extended its support to Amazon Linux 2023 (AL2023). Earlier, customers were limited to running their Spark jobs on Amazon EMR on EKS exclusively with Amazon Linux 2 (AL2). Now, the newfound compatibility with AL2023 opens up a vista of improvements and features, which weren’t previously available on AL2. This comprehensive guide aims to dig deep into these facets and inform about AL2023’s advantages and the significant differences between AL2 and AL2023.
Introducing Amazon Linux 2023¶
Amazon Linux 2023 is the latest generation of Amazon Linux, a deep blend of high performance, stability, and security. It marks an important evolution compared to its antecedent, providing an enhanced and modern platform for running applications in the Amazon ecosystem. It comes with support for Python 3.9, an updated GNU C Library (glibc) upgraded to 2.34, and an improved GNU Compiler Collection (gcc), as well as various other novel features.
Amazon EMR on EKS¶
Before delving into the newly introduced support for AL2023, it’s essential to understand Amazon EMR on EKS service. EKS stands for the Elastic Kubernetes Service that championed Kubernetes’ integration in AWS. On the other side, EMR or Elastic Map Reduce offers an easy-to-use, scalable, and secure platform to process enormous amounts of data.
Amazon EMR on EKS, thus, combines the best of these services, offering a seamless, efficient, and more versatile environment for running Apache Spark jobs. It integrates the robustness, scalability, and versatility of Kubernetes with the efficiency, power, and simplicity of EMR.
Why Amazon Linux 2023?¶
The integration of AL2023 with Amazon EMR on EKS signifies several advantages over its predecessor, AL2, especially for developers working in the Amazon ecosystem.
Python 3.9 Support¶
Python continues to be a popular language among developers, given its simplicity and the wide array of libraries it offers for tasks ranging from web development to data science. AL2023 supports Python 3.9 by default. This is beneficial as Python 3.9 introduces new syntax features, built-in methods improvements, and significant standard library enhancements.
Enhanced gcc and glibc:¶
AL2023 boasts upgraded versions of GNU C Library (glibc) and GNU Compiler Collection (gcc). With glibc upgraded to 2.34, it brings along better compliance with modern standards and practices. For instance, it provides enhanced support for Unicode 13.0.0, improved multithreading, and new system call wrappers.
Similarly, the upgrade of gcc to version 11.3 represents a step forward in terms of compiler performance and functionality. The new release brings along several bug fixes and improvements, which includes better diagnostics, improved code generation, and new hardware support.
More Updates:¶
Aside from these upgrades, AL2023 also includes other updates and enhancements, paving the way for a more streamlined and optimized working environment. The full list of updates, changes, and new features can be found in the AL2023 user guide.
Difference between AL2 and AL2023¶
It’s critical to catalog the differences between the two Amazon Linux versions to appreciate the progress AL2023 represents. Some of the following are key distinctions:
- Default Python version: While AL2 defaults to Python 3.7, AL2023 comes with Python 3.9.
- AL2023 brings updated versions of GCC (11.3) and glibc(2.34) compared to AL2.
- AL2023 has a number of other software package upgrades and feature enhancements compared to AL2, as detailed in the AL2023 user guide.
Conclusion¶
The support for AL2023 in Amazon EMR on EKS is a welcome upgrade. The move extends the limits of what developers can accomplish, enhancing their ability to build, run, and optimize their Spark workloads and applications effectively. Plus, with the newer version of Python, vastly improved gcc and glibc, and several additional improvements, AL2023 offers an even more robust, efficient, and optimized environment. It underlines AWS’s commitment to constant progress, striving to deliver better and more potent services to its customers.
For a complete review and understanding of AL2023, you can visit the user guide available. The guide offers an in-depth look into the multitude of features, the updated software packages, new tools, and how you can leverage all these upgrades in your projects.
Stay tuned for more updates and news from the dynamic world of AWS. Keeping abreast of these changes is key to making the most of what Amazon Web Services have to offer. Happy coding!