Oracle is pleased to announce that Oracle Linux 9 Update 5 for the 64-bit Intel and AMD (x86_64) and 64-bit Arm (aarch64) platforms is now generally available. This release is packaged with the following kernel options:

Oracle Linux is designed for distributed and multicloud computing environments and provides 100% application binary compatibility with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, helping to ensure applications run without disruption.

Oracle Linux 9 Update 5 maintains application binary compatibility with the corresponding Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Update 5 and delivers on Oracle’s commitment to keeping Linux open and free for everyone. As a founding member of the Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA), Oracle continues to contribute, maintain, and support Enterprise Linux source code.

Oracle Linux sources, binaries, ISOs, and errata continue to be readily accessible and freely available from the Oracle Linux yum server, without any restrictions. Additionally, the operating system, virtualization, management, automation, cloud native computing tools, Kubernetes, and more are all included with a single Premier Support subscription.

What’s New in Oracle Linux 9 Update 5

The following highlights select features, enhancements, and changes introduced in this Oracle Linux 9 release. For more detailed information, please refer to the Oracle Linux 9 Update 5 Release Notes.

Compilers and development tools

  • System Java updated to OpenJDK 17
    • The default Oracle Linux 9 Java is changed from OpenJDK 11 to OpenJDK 17. After this update, the java-17-openjdk packages, which provide the OpenJDK 17 Java Runtime Environment and the OpenJDK 17 Java Software Development Kit, also provide the java and java-devel packages.
  • .NET updated to version 9.0
    • In this release, .NET is updated to version 9.0 which enables the C#13 and F#9 programming languages. This version also includes performance improvements in the garbage collector, Just-In-Time compiler, and the base libraries. Several notable additions and improvements include ML.NET for machine learning, .NET Aspire for building cloud-ready distributed applications, and updates to ASP.NET Core that enhance authentication and authorization.
  • GCC Toolset 14 is available as an Application Stream in the form of a Software Collection in the AppStream repository. The following tools and versions are available in this GCC Toolset release:
    • GCC 14.2.1
    • binutils 2.41
    • dwz 0.14
    • annobin 12.70
  • GDB updated to version 14.2
  • System GCC updated to version 11.5
  • Grafana updated to version 10.2.6
  • LLVM Toolset updated to version 18.1.8
  • Rust Toolset updated to version 1.79
  • Go Toolset updated to version 1.22.5
  • valgrind updated to version 3.23.0

Dynamic programming languages, web and database servers

  • Python Interpreter performance enhanced, which results in faster code execution.
  • A new nodejs:22 application stream added to provide access to nodejs version 22. 
  • httpd updated to version 2.4.62.

Security

  • OpenSSL updated to version 3.2.2
    • This significant update includes enhanced cryptographic operations and optimized RSA public key handling. Additionally, it introduces updated and additional security algorithms for increased security options, aligns code with FIPS 140-3 standards to help strengthen security and compliance, and includes several patches for critical issues such as buffer overreads, memory leaks, and denial-of-service vulnerabilities.
  • OpenSSH updated to version 8.7p1-43
    • Notably, you can now configure default key sizes for ssh host key generation.
  • SCAP Security Guide updated to version 0.1.74, which includes STIG profiles aligned with the latest DISA STIG policies.
    • An ism_o profile is introduced for Oracle Linux 9 systems to cover the “Information Security Manual” guidance produced by Australian Cyber Security Center.

Cockpit web console

  • Cockpit web console updated to version 323.
  • The cockpit-files package is added to provide a File Manager page in the Cockpit web console. With the File Manager, you can browse files and directories, perform common file operations such as copying, moving, and renaming, and upload files from your browser to the file system.

Containers

  • Podman updated to version 5.2

Upgrading to the latest Oracle Linux releases

Using the Leapp utility (a framework for updating and upgrading operating systems and applications), you can upgrade Oracle Linux 7 systems to Oracle Linux 8, and upgrade Oracle Linux 8 systems to the latest Oracle Linux 9 release. For step-by-step instructions on upgrading your system, review the following documentation for Oracle Linux 8 and Oracle Linux 9.

You can also use Leapp to upgrade systems running Oracle Database 19c from Oracle Linux 7 to Oracle Linux 8. To gain hands-on experience with Leapp before undertaking any production upgrades, we encourage you to take advantage of this Leapp tutorial.

Hardware certification

Servers already certified for an earlier release of Oracle Linux 9 with UEK Release 7 do not need to be recertified for this update; servers certified for Oracle Linux with UEK are published on the Hardware Certification List (HCL).

For Independent Hardware Vendors (IHVs) that would like to be part of the Hardware Certification Program, please contact us at hcl-info_ww@oracle.com.

ISV ecosystem

Oracle Linux ecosystem Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) that have certified their software to run on Oracle Linux and Oracle Virtualization can be found in the Oracle Linux ISV Catalog. Applications certified on Oracle Linux run wherever Oracle Linux runs—on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and other cloud and on-premises environments.

Download and try it now!

Resources

For more information, see the following Oracle Linux resources:

Documentation and training

GitHub

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