Oracle Linux 8 Update 6 based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 sources has been released.

Oracle Linux 8 Update 6

Oracle Linux 8 Update 6 for the 64-bit Intel and AMD (x86_64) and 64-bit Arm (aarch64) platforms are now available.  

This release includes the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) Release 6 on the installation image, along with the Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK) for x86_64 platform. For new installations, UEK R6 is enabled and installed by default and is the default kernel on first boot. UEK R6, the kernel developed, built, and tested by Oracle is based on the mainline Linux Kernel 5.4, and delivers more innovation than other commercial Linux kernels. 

Oracle Linux 8 Update 6 introduces support for drop-in configuration files to OpenSSH servers, Policy-Based Decryption (PBD) for automated unlocking of LUKS-encrypted drives and delivers many enhancements, including:

• Software Management

  • modulesync

    This command is used to ensure the presence of modular metadata and facilitate the module installation when modular metadata is not available. The command downloads rpm packages from modules and then creates a repository with modular metadata inside a working directory.
    

• Shell and Command Line Tools

  • lsvpd updated to version 1.7.13.
  • net-snmp-cert gencert. The net-snmp-cert gencert utility has been updated to generate certificates by using SHA512 encryption algorithm. This change provides increased security.
  • opencryptoki updated to version 3.17.0.
  • New capability for excluding certain network interfaces and IP addresses when creating a rescue image. The EXCLUDE_IP_ADDRESSES variable enables you to ignore certain IP addresses, and the EXCLUDE_NETWORK_INTERFACES variable enables you to ignore certain network interfaces when creating a rescue image.
• Compilers and Development Toolsets
  • GCC Toolset updated to version 11.2
  • Rust Toolset updated to version 1.58.1
  • LLVM Toolset updated to version 13.0.1
  • PCP updated to version 5.3.5
  • Grafana updated to version 7.5.11
• Dynamic Programming Languages
  • php:8.0 module stream added. This new module stream provides several bug fixes and enhancements over the 7.4 version.
  • Perl 5.32 module stream added. This new module stream includes a number of bug fixes and enhancements over Perl version 5.30, which was distributed in Oracle Linux 8.3.
• Infrastructure Services
  • bind updated to version 9.16.23. The bind component version 9.16.23 is introduced as an alternative to the existing 9.11.36 version.
  • nginx-mod-devel package added to nginx:1.20 module stream. This package includes all of the necessary files for building external dynamic modules for nginx.
• Networking
  • NetworkManager updated to version 1.36.0.
  • improved nftables framework. In this release, you can count packets that match a specific criteria with a dynamic set and elements with attached counters.
  • Restoring large nftables sets requires significantly less memory.
• Security
  • Audit updated to version 3.0.7.
  • fapolicyd framework updated to version 1.1, includes the ability to use the new rules.d/ and trust.d/ directories in the fagenrules script.
  • Libcap updated to version 2.48.
  • Libreswan updated to version 4.5.
  • libseccomp updated to version 2.5.2.
  • Libssh updated to version 0.9.6, includes support for diffie-hellman-group14-sha256 provided in crypto policies and for drop-in configuration files. This change makes it easier to apply system-specific configurations on OpenSSH servers by using automation tools, including Oracle Linux Automation Manager and Engine; this new enhancement also provides the option to use different configuration files for different uses.
  • pcsc-lite updated to version 1.9.5.
  • New checksum option has been added to the semodule command for verifying installed versions of SELinux policy modules.
  • SCAP Security Guide updated to version 0.1.60.
  • OpenSCAP packages updated to version 1.3.6.

For more details about these and other new features and changes, please consult the  Oracle Linux 8 Update 6 Release Notes and  Oracle Linux 8 Documentation.

Announcing the release of Oracle Linux 8 Update 6
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