AL2 Extras Library

With AL2, you can use the Extras Library to install application and software updates on your instances. These software updates are known as topics. You can install a specific version of a topic or omit the version information to use the most recent version. Extras help alleviate having to compromise between the stability of an operating system and the freshness of available software.

The contents of Extras topics are exempt from the Amazon Linux policy on long-term support and binary compatibility. Extras topics provide access to a curated list of packages. The versions of the packages might be updated frequently or might not be supported for the same amount of time as AL2.

To list the available topics, use the following command.

[ec2-user ~]$ amazon-linux-extras list

To enable a topic and install the latest version of its package to ensure freshness, use the following command.

[ec2-user ~]$ sudo amazon-linux-extras install topic

To enable topics and install specific versions of their packages to ensure stability, use the following command.

[ec2-user ~]$ sudo amazon-linux-extras install topic=version topic=version

To remove a package installed from a topic, use the following command.

[ec2-user ~]$ sudo yum remove $(yum list installed | grep amzn2extra-topic | awk '{ print $1 }')

To disable a topic and make the packages inaccessible to the yum package manager, use the following command.

[ec2-user ~]$ sudo amazon-linux-extras disable topic