Rocky Linux typically works, as is, as a server distribution without needing much else. However, there are cases where having third party packages are necessary. This can range from specific type of PHP packages or perhaps packages that require some other third party repository to install. There are also cases where desktop users need something specific or perhaps want another desktop environment.
There are many third party repositories out there. However, the Rocky Linux community has a list of supported repositories. Most of these repositories can be enabled simply by running dnf install and then the relevant release package. You can find them by searching the extras repository. For example: dnf search release --disablerepo=* --enablerepo=extras
See below for a table of most if not all supported third-party repositories, as copied from the wiki.
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) - EPEL is by for the most commonly used repository for Enterprise Linux. EPEL provides rebuilds of Fedora packages for every supported enterprise linux. Packages in this repository do not replace the base. You can install EPEL by running dnf install epel-release and the package will be installed from the extras repository. The package will automatically have EPEL enabled. Support for EPEL can be found in #epel on Libera. |
Community Enterprise Linux Repository (ELRepo) - ELRepo focuses on newer kernels and kmod driver packages to enhance hardware support for currently supported Enterprise Linux versions. This includes display, filesystem, network, storage drivers. You can install the necessary repo files by running dnf install elrepo-release. Note that the kernel repositories will have to be enabled. |
RPM Fusion - RPM Fusion provides software that the Fedora Project or Red Hat does not want to ship in Enterprise Linux and Fedora. These repositories do rely on EPEL. The policy is to not replace EPEL nor base packages. The free repository can be installed by running dnf install rpmfusion-free-release. |
Remi Repository - Remi maintains a large collection of RPMs, including latest versions of PHP, among other things. His FAQ can be found here. This is a collection of repositories. Using the -safe series of repositories will ensure that nothing from the base will be replaced or overwritten. However, be aware that these repositories do not play well with other third party repositories. You will need to use caution as you enable more repositories on your system. |
GhettoForge - GhettoForge provides packages not in other third party repositories. Packages that overwrite the base would be in the gf-plus repository. Please see usage for more information. |
| Trinity Desktop Environment (TDE) - TDE provides Enterprise Linux packages for a KDE 3.5 style desktop environment. As of this writing, EL8 and EL9 repositories exist. You can find TDE support resources here. |
| ZFS On Linux - The ZFS on Linux project is an implementation of OpenZFS, designed to work in a Linux environment. While this filesystem is very popular, it receives no testing or support from Rocky Release Engineering or Testing. Use at your own risk. |
Upstream centos-release-* - In the extras repository, there are centos-release-* packages that provide additional repositories from the Special Interest Groups of CentOS. As they are available in extras and should work on Rocky Linux, they are considered approved and community supported. |