Daniel Nashed's Blog

I get this question once in a while and it was also a question which came up in the Domino on Linux Engage session.
The short answer is: It depends.


Any Linux distribution is better than running on Windows

If you don’t have any specific reasons to stay on Windows, any long-term supported Linux distribution can serve as a stable and efficient platform for Domino. But there are important factors to consider.

Linux has a couple of benefits compared to Windows:

- Better resource usage and less overhead
- Better performance
- Easier maintenance and updates
- More secure
- Remote access via SSH (certificate based with multi factor options) instead of RDP
- Easier integration and automation
- Good performance analysis tools and tuning options
- Open Source software stack and community resources

Choose a Company-Standard Distribution

The most important factor is often simple:

Which Linux distribution is already in use within your organization?

Standardizing on one distribution reduces the need for additional expertise and simplifies system management. In most enterprises, the choice of Linux is not made by the Domino team — it’s usually an organization-wide decision.

So, if your company already runs Linux, it’s usually best to deploy Domino on the same platform to streamline support and maintenance.

Do You Need Enterprise Linux Support?

Domino is supported on all major Linux distributions, but if you require a fully certified and tested platform, these are your safest choices:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9.6 or higher
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15.6 or higher

There are three major Linux “families” to consider, which differ primarily in package managers, naming conventions, and system tools (such as networking or firewall tools).

Red Hat/CentOS-Based Distributions

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• CentOS Stream
• Rocky Linux
• AlmaLinux

CentOS Stream → RHEL → Rocky/AlmaLinux

Package manager: dnf (or yum) using RPM packages

Why it matters: Some software, such as IBM Spectrum Protect for Mail, is only available as an RPM package and not supported on Ubuntu/Debian.

If you're familiar with RHEL-based systems, you'll find the same tooling and administration across all of these variants.

SUSE-Based Distributions

• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)
• openSUSE

SUSE offers robust enterprise features and excellent SAP integration. While less common for Domino, it is officially supported and a good choice if SUSE is your organization’s standard.

• Ubuntu LTS (Long-Term Support)
• Debian

Highlights:

• Ubuntu LTS releases can be upgraded in place
• UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) provides simple firewall management
• Native support for ZFS with advanced features:
  • Compression
  • Deduplication (useful for DAOS and backup)
  • Snapshots
  • Case-insensitive mode
  • Encryption

Note: Proxmox (a popular virtualization platform) is based on Debian and works exceptionally well with LXC containers and ZFS.
Ubuntu and Debian make great guest operating systems in this context.

Other Specialized RPM-Based Distributions

• VMware Photon OS well suited for VMware environments
• Oracle Linux ideal if you're already using Oracle products
• Amazon Linux optimized for AWS instances

Conclusion

You’ll find Domino running well on all major Linux distributions — and HCL’s official Domino Linux GitHub repository reflects this diversity:

https://opensource.hcltechsw.com/domino-linux/

Your platform choice should match your operational needs:

• Follow internal standards when possible
• Consider enterprise support requirements
• Evaluate package compatibility for add-ons
• Leverage ZFS if your use case benefits from it (e.g., backup, DAOS)