Amazon GameLift Servers Linux (AL2) Server FAQ

Amazon GameLift Servers will retire support for AL2 operating system on June 30, 2026, which is the official end of support date mentioned on the Amazon Linux 2 FAQ page. Amazon GameLift Servers customers without active fleets running Amazon Linux 2 (AL2) will only be able to use Amazon Linux 2023 as the Linux operating system to create game server builds and fleets starting March 31, 2026. Customers that already have active AL2 fleets will be able to select AL2 or the latest Amazon Linux 2023 (AL2023) operating systems when uploading new builds and creating new fleets, until June 30, 2026. However, in order to maintain the security posture of your game servers and provide the best game play experience to your players, we recommend that you migrate your game server fleets to AL2023 before June 30, 2026.

EOS is the end stage of an OS lifecycle after which it is no longer updated or patched for any known security vulnerability by the maintainer of the operating system software. Operating systems, like any software, are updated to newer versions leaving the older versions in maintenance for some time, before finally reaching a stage where the provider no longer supports them, known as the End of Support (EOS).

No. In order to help Amazon GameLift Servers customers maintain secure game server runtime environments after end of support, we require all customers to migrate to Amazon Linux 2023 (AL2023) before the end of support date i.e. June 30, 2026.

You can log in to your Amazon GameLift Servers console and look for the attribute “Operating system” under the Build Details section of the fleet. Alternatively, you can call the DescribeFleetAttributes API to retrieve the value of the OS found in the “Operating system” parameter of the response. For more details, check the API reference page. If you see “AMAZON_LINUX_2” in either the console view or the API response, you are currently using AL2 in your fleets and will need to upgrade to Amazon Linux 2023 (AL2023).

If you are an existing Amazon GameLift Servers customer with active fleets running on Amazon Linux 2 (AL2) as of today, you can continue to create new fleets or update existing ones with AL2, as the OS, until the end of support date on June 30, 2026. Starting July 1, 2026, AL2 will no longer be accepted as valid build parameter at the time of creating new game server builds via the Amazon GameLift Servers console or the CreateBuild CLI command. This means you will not be able to create new fleets using older builds created using AL2 as the OS. Amazon GameLift Servers will automatically terminate any fleets that are still running on AL2 after July 31, 2026. Hence, we highly recommend that you plan to migrate your game servers to Amazon Linux 2023 well in advance of June 30, 2026.

Yes. The server SDK V4 for Amazon GameLift Servers and older supports AL2023 in the China regions.

Yes. The end of support for Amazon Linux 2 (AL2) affects all instances that run on this OS regardless of if you are using Amazon GameLift Servers (managed service) or FleetIQ. If you are using Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ you will need to make sure your AL2 EC2 instances are updated to Amazon Linux 2023 by June 30, 2026 to ensure that you can continue to operate a secure game server runtime environment and receive regular software updates.

Amazon GameLift Servers supports both Linux and Windows run time environment for game servers. If you are new to Amazon GameLift Servers, Amazon Linux 2023, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2022 are the Linux and Windows operating systems available to you.

No. For detailed pricing options please visit https://www.amazonaws.cn/en/gamelift/pricing/

Yes. Amazon GameLift Servers will scale down and terminate any remaining active fleets running on Amazon Linux 2, after July 31, 2026.

Amazon GameLift Servers Enterprise customers can leverage their account team for technical support. Customers can also reach out to us through Amazon Web Services support.