- Oracle has released its latest enterprise-focused Linux distribution, coming a few weeks after the release of RHEL 9.
- The new release comes with the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 7; Red Hat Compatible Kernel is also available.
- Oracle Linux 9 delivers enhancements in OpenSSL 3.0, file system, VirtualBox shared folder as well as the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel itself.
Oracle announced the release of Oracle Linux 9 for x86_64 and Arm platforms. The latest release includes Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 7 (UEK R7) along with the Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK). The latest version of Oracle Linux, which is designed for application development and deployment, provides performance and security enhancements.
What’s new?
Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 7 comes with LTS Linux Kernel 5.15 and supports the latest hardware. Along with critical fixes and security updates, a new security feature to help avoid side-channel attacks. CTF (C-type format) debug info data enables developers to debug their systems without installing additional packages and changed the default page size from 64 KB to 4 KB for the 64-bit Arm (aarch64) platform.
OpenSSL 3.0 in Oracle Linux 9 also comes with various enhancements for developers and users. The new FIPS module prevents non-FIPS algorithm use while the FIPS flag can be set in the kernel without the need to switch OpenSSL to FIPS mode. Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 7 includes a new asynchronous SSD trimming, parallel filesystem sync capabilities, and fewer checksum tree lookups.
UEK R7 introduces native support for VirtualBox shared folder. The new feature allows sharing folders between Oracle Linux guests and the host operating system. Oracle Linux 9 installation software is now available as:
- ISO installation images are available from the Oracle Linux yum server and Oracle Software Delivery Cloud
- Individual RPM packages via the Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN) and the Oracle Linux yum server
- Container images via Oracle Container Registry, GitHub Container Registry, and Docker Hub
- Additional software downloads for Oracle Linux