Red Hat Summit 2019: RHEL 8 arrives

Red Hat Summit 2019 is off to an exciting start. The conference, running from today until Thursday in Boston, is already tickling attendees’ fancies by announcing some very exciting developments.

The first is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 — available now for everything from bare-metal servers and Linux containers to public and private clouds.

RHEL 8 introduces Application Streams, which allow languages, frameworks, and developer tools to be updated frequently without impacting the core resources that have made Red Hat Enterprise Linux an enterprise benchmark. This feature brings quick developer innovation and production stability into the OS.

Sandra Henry-Stocker

RHEL 8 also delivers full support for the Red Hat container toolkit. Based on open standards, this toolkit provides technologies for creating, running, and sharing containerized applications. It helps to streamline container development and eliminates the need for bulky, less secure container daemons.

Red Hat 8 coincides with the arrival of the Universal Base Image (UBI) that allows Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) containers to run on any container platform. Using UBI, you will be able to share and run your applications anywhere.

Red Hat

When you run containerized applications on Red Hat platforms like Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, however, there are some additional values. Subscribers have access to product features and advocacy in the direction of the product roadmap. Running UBI on RHEL/OpenShift, you will get access to:

• Open source enterprise software
• Emerging open source technologies
• The 10-plus-year lifecycle
• Support and expertise
• Security and performance measures

Plus, you will have a voice for influencing performance and security requirements.

Some of the other features that are noteworthy in RHEL 8 include:

• The RHEL web console — providing an intuitive and consistent interface for managing and monitoring RHEL systems
• RHEL System Roles — automating the more complex tasks when managing and monitoring production systems
• Support for OpenSSL 1.1.1 and TLS 1.3 — providing the latest standards in cryptographic protection

I like the way Stefanie Chiras, Red Hat’s vice president and general manager for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, describes the role of Linux and RHEL’s part in it:

“Innovation and Linux are inseparable – from building the internet’s backbone to forming the first neurons of AI, Linux drives IT’s present and future. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 embraces the role of Linux as IT’s innovation engine, crystallizing it into an accessible, trusted and more secure platform. Spanning the entirety of the hybrid cloud, the world’s leading enterprise Linux platform provides a catalyst for IT organizations to do more than simply meet today’s challenges; it gives them the foundation and tools to launch their own future, wherever they want it to be.”