Oracle releases Oracle Linux 7.9

Oracle announced the release of Oracle Linux 7 Update 9. The latest version includes Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 6 as the default kernel. Oracle Linux maintains user space compatibility with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. According to the announcement, no re-certifications are needed for applications already certified with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 or Oracle Linux 7 and existing applications will continue to run unmodified on the latest version.

Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 6

Oracle Linux 7.9 is available on 64-bit Arm and 64-bit AMD/Intel-based systems. ISO installation images are available for download from the Oracle Linux yum server. The latest version of Oracle Linux ships with the following kernel packages:

• UEK Release 6 (kernel-uek-5.4.17-2011.6.2.el7uek) for x86-64 and aarch64
• Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK) (kernel-3.10.0-1160.el7) for x86-64 only

Notable new features are:

• New features and changes for Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK)
  • EDAC driver for Intel ICX systems added: The Error Detection and Correction (EDAC) driver has been added to Intel ICX systems in this release. This driver enables error detection on these systems, as well as reports any errors to the EDAC subsystem.
  • Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx network adapter support added: Oracle Linux 7 Update 9 adds the PCI IDs of the Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx network adapter to the mlx5_core driver.
• UEK Release 6 is based on the mainline Linux kernel 5.4, supplying more innovation than other commercial Linux kernels. 
  • Arm: Enhanced support for the Arm (aarch64) platform, including improvements in the areas of security and virtualization.
  • Cgroup v2: UEK R6 includes all Cgroup v2 features, along with several enhancements.
  • ktask: ktask is a framework for parallelizing CPU-intensive work in the kernel. It can be used to speed up large tasks on systems with available CPU power, where a task is single-threaded in user space.
  • Parallelized kswapd: Page replacement is handled in the kernel asynchronously by kswapd, and synchronously by direct reclaim. When free pages within the zone free list are low, kswapd scans pages to determine if there are unused pages that can be evicted to free up space for new pages. This optimization improves performance by avoiding direct reclaims, which can be resource intensive and time consuming.
  • Kexec firmware signing: The option to check and validate a kernel image signature is enabled in UEK R6. When kexec is used to load a kernel from within UEK R6, kernel image signature checking and validation can be implemented to ensure that a system only loads a signed and validate kernel image.
  • Memory management: Several performance enhancements have been implemented in the kernel’s memory management code to improve the efficiency of clearing pages and cache, as well as enhancements to fault management and reporting.
  • NVDIMM: NVDIMM feature updates have been implemented so that persistent memory can be used as traditional RAM.
  • NVMe: NVMe improvements include: NVMe over Fabrics TCP host and the target drivers have been added, multipath support and passthrough command support have been added. NVMe namespace support is extended to include Namespace Write Protect and Asynchronous Namespace Access.
  • DTrace: DTrace support is enabled and has been re-implemented to use the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) that is integrated into the Linux kernel.
  • OCFS2: Support for the OCFS2 file system is enabled.
  • Btrfs: Support for the Btrfs file system is enabled and support to select Btrfs as a file system type when formatting devices is available.
  • NFS: enhancements and new features that help on NFS performance.
  • Zero copy networking: network performance enhancements and new technology to build faster networking products.

FAQ

What is the latest version of Oracle Linux?

The latest version in Oracle Linux 8 series is 8.7, and in the 9 series is 9.1.

How do you update Oracle Linux?

To update Oracle Linux, you can use the "yum" package manager.
Before you begin, it is important to backup your important data, and also make sure your system is fully up-to-date by running "yum update".
Then, open a terminal and run the command "sudo yum update" to begin the update process. This command will update the system and download and install the new packages.
You can also use "yum update-minimal" command to update the system with only security updates and important bug fixes.

How do you upgrade Oracle Linux?

To upgrade Oracle Linux, you can use the "yum" package manager. Run the command "sudo yum upgrade" after making sure your system is fully updated with "sudo yum update". It's also recommended to review the release notes of the new version you are upgrading to, to know about any new features, and to ensure that any third-party software you are using is compatible with the new version. Remember to backup important data before upgrading.

Is Oracle Linux free?

Oracle Linux is available for free as an open-source operating system, but there are additional features and support options that may require a paid subscription. The basic version is free to download, install and use for both personal and commercial purposes.

Is Oracle Linux good for servers?

Oracle Linux is considered a good option for servers, as it is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which is known for its reliability and stability. Oracle Linux also offers many enterprise-grade features such as support for large-scale deployments, advanced security, and performance-enhancing technologies.

Is Oracle Linux the same as RHEL?

Oracle Linux is similar to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in many ways, as it is based on the same codebase and has many of the same features. While Oracle Linux and RHEL are similar, they are different distributions and are maintained by different companies.

Is Oracle Linux the same as CentOS?

Oracle Linux and CentOS are both based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), but there are some key differences between the two. Oracle Linux is developed and maintained by Oracle Corporation, while CentOS is developed and maintained by a community of volunteers. Oracle Linux is also available as a commercial distribution, which means that it includes additional features such as support and certifications that are not available in the community edition of CentOS. Additionally, Oracle Linux provides its own set of software repositories and yum channels, and it uses a different package-naming convention.

Who uses Oracle Linux?

Oracle Linux is primarily used by businesses, organizations, and IT professionals, who need a stable, reliable, and enterprise-grade Linux distribution. Companies that have large-scale deployments and rely heavily on Oracle databases and other enterprise applications, often use Oracle Linux as it is optimized to run these types of software.

Does Oracle Linux have a GUI?

Yes, Oracle Linux does have a GUI (Graphical User Interface) available. The default desktop environment for Oracle Linux is GNOME, which is a popular and widely used open-source desktop environment. Oracle Linux also supports other GUI options such as KDE Plasma and Xfce, which can be installed as an alternative.

Does Oracle Linux have a package manager?

Yes, Oracle Linux has a package manager called yum, which stands for "Yellowdog Updater Modified." Yum is a command-line tool that allows users to easily install, update, and remove software packages on their systems.

Can Oracle Linux be installed on a virtual machine?

Yes, Oracle Linux can be installed on a virtual machine. A virtual machine (VM) allows you to run an operating system within another operating system. This means that you can install Oracle Linux on a virtual machine and run it on top of your current operating system, without the need to replace it or partition your hard drive.
To install Oracle Linux on VMWare, you can refer to our article: How to install a Linux Distro on VMware Workstation