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EuroLinux 8.5 Release Notes for ARM 64 (aarch64)

EuroLinux 8.5 is the first version of EuroLinux that provides ARM 64 General Availability. We have to update the Gaia build system in the customers' sites for this release. This version code name is Tirana - the capital city of Albania.

Below you can find the essential changes in EuroLinux 8.5 GA release for aarch64 architecture from EuroLinux 8.4 Beta for ARM64.

Dynamic programming languages, Web and Database servers

New versions of the following components are now available:

  • Ruby 3.0 - module ruby stream 3.0.
  • nginx 1.20 - module nginx stream 1.20
  • Nodejs 16 - module nodejs stream 16

Compiler Toolset

The following compiler toolsets have been updated in EL 8.5:

  • GCC Toolset 11 - software collection gcc-toolset-11
  • LLVM Toolset 12.0.1 - module llvm-toolset stream rhel
  • Rust Toolset 1.54.0 - module rust-toolset stream rhel
  • Go Toolset 1.16.7 - module go-toolset stream rhel

Security

Most of the security features are connected to rebased/updated versions of the packages. The most crucial security changes include:

  • rsyslog - now support OpenSSL
  • OpenSCAP framework - added new profiles and multiple changes and enhancements
  • cryptopolicies were updated - these system-wide cryptographic policies from this version support different policies for different backends (scoped policies)

High Availability and Resilient Storage

  • High Availability and Resilient Storage modules are not supported on ARM64 architecture. This is in line with upstream policy.

General updates and improvements

Among the others, the following packages were updated and enhanced:

  • NetworkManager was updated to 1.32.10 from 1.30
  • OpenIMP was updated to 2.0.31 from 2.0.29
  • acel was updated to 3.1 from 2.8
  • bluez was updated to 5.56 from 5.52
  • chrony was updated to 4.1 from 3.5
  • cockpit was updated to version 251.1 from 238.2
  • crypto-policies was updated to 20210617 from 20210209
  • dnf was updated to 4.7.0 from 4.4.2
  • elfutils were updated to 0.185 from 0.182
  • freeipmi was updated to 1.6.8 from 1.6.6
  • gnutls was updated to 3.6.16 from 3.6.14
  • ibacm was updated to 35.0 from 32.0
  • libmodulemd updated to version 2.13.0 from 2.9.4
  • libreswan was updated to version 4.4 from 4.3
  • main GCC was updated to 8.5.0 from 8.4.1
  • opencryptoki updated to version 3.16.0 from 3.15.1
  • rsyslog was updated to version 8.2102.0 from 8.1911.0
  • sssd was updated to version 2.5.2 from 2.4.0

New packages

Among the others, the following packages were added to this release:

  • adwaita-qt5
  • ansible-collection-microsoft-sql
  • ansible-collection-redhat-rhel_mgmt
  • ansible-freeipa-tests
  • ansible-pcp
  • compact-hwloc1
  • coreos-installer
  • dotnet6.0
  • eth-tools
  • java-17-openjdk*
  • libadwaita-qt5
  • libcap-ng-python3
  • libcomps-devel is now included in PowerTools
  • libvoikko-devel - is now included in PowerTools
  • mobile-broadband-provider-info-devel is now included in PowerTools
  • modulemd-tools
  • pcm
  • python3-cloud-what
  • python3-libstoragemgmt
  • python3-pyghmi
  • qt5-qtserialbus-devel is now included in PowerTools
  • resource-agents-paf (resilient storage)
  • rsyslog-openssl
  • samba-vfs-iouring
  • sblim-gather
  • sblim-gather-provider is now included in PowerTools
  • sevctl
  • stratisd-dracut
  • tesseract
  • tss2
  • udftools
  • unicode-ucd-unihan
  • xapian-core and its development packages are now included

How to update from beta

The beta repository has an updated package el-release, that contains production repositories. Upgrading from EuroLinux 8.4 beta for ARM64 to 8.5 GA is as simple as running:

sudo yum update -y el-release
sudo yum update -y

Branded packages

Multiple packages have names changed due to branding, including:

  • redhat-backgrounds -> el-backgrounds
  • redhat-indexhtml -> el-indexhtml
  • redhat-logos -> el-logos
  • redhat-logos-httpd -> el-logos-httpd
  • redhat-logos-ipa -> el-logos-ipa
  • redhat-release -> el-release
  • redhat-release-eula -> el-release - we include EULA in release package

All these packages have proper RPM provides declaration.

The list of the packages that are changed due to branding includes, among the others:

  • abrt
  • anaconda
  • anaconda-user-help
  • anacondafirefox
  • cloud-init
  • crash
  • httpd
  • initial-setup
  • ipa
  • libreport
  • libguestfs
  • libreoffice
  • nginx
  • opa-ff
  • opa-fm
  • openscap
  • osinfo-db
  • python3
  • redhat-rpm-config
  • scap-security-guide
  • skopeo
  • sos
  • subscription-manager
  • thunderbird

Batteries

Batteries repository contains packages that are needed to rebuild the distribution but are not included in upstream repositories. Right now, this repository includes more than 2100 packages for each buildroot.

Multiple batteries were updated for this release there, including:

  • Bootstraps for rust-toolset
  • Bootstraps for go-toolset

Gaia build system

Gaia build system was updated in all interested parties' environments. We had to select/order (with current long delivery times)/install hardware for aarch64. We also changed the rebuild policy. None of our customers was interested in using RHEL as a buildroot for their own Enterprise Linux forks. It means that EuroLinux must be released faster, but at the very same time, we can exclusively focus on providing EuroLinux in the early stages and thus release it faster. We also decided that the next version will be released asynchronously with more batch compilation. Batch compilation is scheduled for EuroLinux 9.0 and 8.6.

Other notable changes

  • EuroLinux 8.5 is the first version that can use baseos-all, appstream-all and powertools-all repositories that contain all packages produced during the build process. However, these packages are not supported by upstream or EuroLinux. They are intended for developers to build their own solutions.
  • EuroLinux reverted the previous changes that made DockerHub the default container image registry. We observed other RHEL clones and decided that keeping default might be more suitable for users.

Currently missing features

Container and cloud images

We will work on broader support for cloud/container images based on EuroLinux 8.5 for arm including:

  • New container images on DockerHub and Quay.io
  • AWS images for Graviton processors
  • New Vagrant Boxes - note that HashiCorp does not provide an aarch64 build for Vagrant. Still, Linux distributions like Fedora delivers it so, it's achievable and usable.

Additional resources