RIPE Atlas Anchor Operating System Upgrade

* Update on 24 July: Applications for new anchors will remain paused for the time being, and will not resume on 15 July as originally published. However, we will soon resume accepting a small number of applications so that we can monitor closely the anchors running the new OS. *

RIPE Atlas anchors are scheduled for an Operating System (OS) upgrade soon since the current OS will reach its end-of-life on 30 June 2024.

We are currently implementing and testing the necessary changes to support a smooth transition to the new OS without service interruption. Consequently, all live anchors will be upgraded by 31 August 2024.

During this period, anchors will run on an outdated OS for a couple of months, but we do not anticipate any security issues. For the few outward-facing services or lower-level software (such as the kernel) running on anchors, we will provide backports of necessary packages. If needed, we will shut down affected services or the anchor until the upgrade is complete.

Due to this upgrade process, we have now paused applications for new anchors. New applications will resume from 15 July 2024 with anchors provisioned with the new OS.