Announcing Oracle Linux 9 general availability

Oracle is pleased to announce Oracle Linux 9 general availability for Intel-64/AMD-64 (x86_64) and Arm (aarch64). This release includes the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 7 (UEK R7), also generally available today, along with the Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK).

Oracle Linux is an optimized and secure operating environment for application development and deployment. Oracle Linux 9 with UEK R7 provides kernel, performance, and security enhancements including:  

• UEK R7, based on the mainline long term support (LTS) 5.15 release, offers the latest hardware support and is aligned with the Linux kernel community for more timely delivery of critical fixes and security updates. This release includes core scheduling, a security feature to help avoid side-channels attacks; adds CTF (C-type format) debug info data as part of the core kernel installation, allowing developers to debug their systems without having to install additional packages; and improves the default page size to 4 KB for the 64-bit Arm (aarch64) platform. UEK R7 is also available with Oracle Linux 8.

• OpenSSL 3.0 in Oracle Linux 9 includes a number of new concepts and structural enhancements for application developers and users. OpenSSL 3.0's 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.

• File system enhancements with UEK R7 include Btrfs, with new asynchronous SSD trimming, parallel filesystem sync capabilities, and fewer checksum tree lookups. XFS supports Direct Access (DAX) operations, permitting direct access to byte-addressable persistent memory, helping avoid the latency of using traditional block I/O conventions. NFS introduces the "eager write" mount option to help reduce latency.

• VirtualBox shared folder (vboxsf) is natively supported in UEK R7. This facilitates the sharing of folders between Oracle Linux guests and the host operating system with Oracle VM VirtualBox.

Why Switch? Oracle Linux is an ideal choice for Red Hat or CentOS users who need a stable, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)-compatible alternative: 

• Since the debut in 2006, Oracle Linux has been completely free to use and easy to download—without having to sign any documents with Oracle. The same version of software, including all errata, can be run across build, development, QA/test, and production systems, in the cloud or on-premises.
• Oracle Linux is 100% application binary compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), which means applications can run unchanged on Oracle Linux. Since the initial launch, customers have been running Oracle Linux with no compatibility bugs logged. Whether running on UEK or RHCK, Oracle Linux remains fully compatible with RHEL.
• Independent Software Vendors (ISV) and Independent Hardware Vendors (IHV) work closely with Oracle to help ensure their offerings are up to date, tested, certified, and supported with Oracle Linux.
• Oracle Linux has had, and plans to continue to have, an equivalent release for every major RHEL version. Oracle Linux releases consistently track Red Hat with errata typically released within 24 hours, update releases usually available within five business days, and Oracle Linux 9 was delivered approximately six weeks after the major RHEL 9 release.
• Installation media, updates and source code are all publicly available on the Oracle Linux yum server with no login or authentication requirements. 
• Customers decide which of their systems require a support subscription and which support coverage is best for each individual system, keeping all systems up-to-date and secure.

Customers with Oracle Linux Premier Support have access to many additional Linux programs including Oracle Ksplice, which is designed to update select, critical components of your Oracle Linux installation with important security patches without needing to reboot; as well as Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager, Oracle Linux Automation Manager and Engine, and Oracle Cloud Native Environment. Oracle Linux Premier Support is included with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure subscriptions at no additional cost.

Further information

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

There are additional Oracle Linux resources such as scripts to build Oracle Linux images, virtual machine templates and Vagrant projects that can help you rapidly build and provision Oracle Linux instances for VirtualBox, KVM, Oracle Cloud or other clouds.

Documentation, Training and Hands-on Labs

• Oracle Linux Documentation and Training Resources
• Oracle Linux 9 Release Notes
• Oracle Linux Certifications
• Oracle Linux and Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) Releases
• Oracle Linux Blog

GitHub

• Oracle Linux on GitHub
• UEK source on GitHub
• Switch from CentOS Linux to Oracle Linux

Social Media

• Oracle Linux on YouTube
• Oracle Linux on Facebook
• Oracle Linux on Twitter