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Getting Started

Getting Started with RLC

Rocky Linux from CIQ is delivered through the CIQ Portal (web interface) and the Depot CLI (command-line tool). Both RLC Pro and RLC+ use the same access methods.

RLC images ship with the Depot CLI pre-installed. After deploying an image, you authenticate with Depot and enable your product to activate package repositories.

Prerequisites

  • An active RLC Pro or RLC+ subscription

Sign up at portal.ciq.com to get started. RLC+ is available with a free license, and RLC Pro is available with a free developer license or enterprise trial. Production use of RLC Pro requires contacting CIQ Sales.

CIQ Portal

The CIQ Portal is where you manage your RLC subscription, download installers, and access deployment configurations.

  1. Navigate to portal.ciq.com and log in (or sign up).
  2. Select My Products from the left-hand navigation.
  3. Select your RLC product (e.g., RLC Pro 9).
  4. From here you can:
    • Download installers
    • Access Depot CLI credentials
    • View repository configuration

Depot CLI

The Depot CLI is the primary tool for managing RLC subscriptions, enabling repositories, and authenticating package access on your systems.

Installing Depot CLI

RLC images ship with Depot CLI pre-installed. To install the Depot CLI on an existing Rocky Linux system:

sudo dnf install -y https://depot.ciq.com/public/files/depot-client/depot/depot.$(uname -m).rpm

Verify the installation:

depot --version

Authenticating

Log in to Depot CLI with your CIQ Portal credentials:

sudo depot login -u [USER STRING] -t [USER TOKEN]

Your user string and token are available in the CIQ Portal.

Note

The user string and token are not secure credentials — they are persisted in clear text on the host as part of DNF, YUM, and other repository configurations. They provide a gateway to access distributable packages, not a secure vault.

Listing Available Products

View the RLC products available with your subscription:

sudo depot list

Enabling RLC

Enable RLC Pro or RLC+ on your system:

# Enable RLC Pro 9
sudo depot enable rlc-pro-9

# Enable RLC+ 9
sudo depot enable rlc-plus-9

After enabling, update your system to pull packages from the RLC repositories:

sudo dnf update

Version Pinning (RLC Pro)

RLC Pro customers can pin to a specific minor version:

# Pin to a specific minor version
sudo depot enable rlc-pro-9.7

For Long Term Support versions:

# Enable LTS for a specific minor version
sudo depot enable lts-9.6

See Version Pinning & LTS for details.

Deployment Methods

RLC can be deployed through several methods:

Method Description Where to Get It
GenericCloud (QCOW2) Pre-built VM disk images with cloud-init provisioning CIQ Portal
Cloud Marketplaces Pre-configured images on AWS, Azure, GCP, and Oracle Cloud CIQ Portal (guides you to listings)
Bootc Images Immutable, OCI container-based OS deployments CIQ Portal
Conversion Convert existing Rocky Linux to RLC Depot CLI (depot enable)

Standard and NVIDIA (CUDA) image variants are available. See the Installation section for detailed guides.

Converting an Existing Rocky Linux System

An existing Rocky Linux system can be converted to RLC Pro or RLC+ without reinstalling:

  1. Install the Depot CLI
  2. Log in with your CIQ credentials
  3. Enable the desired RLC product
  4. Update the system
# Install depot CLI
sudo dnf install -y https://depot.ciq.com/public/files/depot-client/depot/depot.$(uname -m).rpm

# Log in
sudo depot login -u [USER STRING] -t [USER TOKEN]

# Enable RLC Pro 9
sudo depot enable rlc-pro-9

# Update the system
sudo dnf update

# Reboot to load the CIQ kernel
sudo reboot

After reboot, the system will be running as Rocky Linux from CIQ with the CIQ kernel and the appropriate repositories configured.

Next Steps

Support