Software update: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.1

Red Hat has released version 9.1 of its Enterprise Linux distribution, targeting the enterprise market. It is based on CentOS Stream 9, which in turn is based on Fedora 34. The most important changes made in version 9.1 are listed below.

The next generation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is here

As organizations spread their IT infrastructure from the datacenter to the cloud and the network edge, they increasingly need more scalable hybrid cloud solutions paired with enhanced operational stability. With Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), they can drive consistency, flexibility and reliability as they innovate.

RHEL 9 became generally available in May 2022, and the new 9.1 update brings customers a number of new features and capabilities, including enhancements to SQL, Red Hat Smart Management with Red Hat Satellite, Red Hat Insights and Workstations.

What’s new in RHEL 9.1?

RHEL 9.1 builds upon the previous enhancements introduced in version 9.0, including advanced automation and management features, such as the RHEL web console and system roles, which make it easier for customers to automate manual tasks, standardize deployments at scale and simplify the day-to -day administration of their systems.

Enhanced capabilities added to RHEL 9.1 help simplify how customers manage system security and compliance when deploying new systems or managing existing infrastructure. Organizations can now take advantage of new Ansible tooling, access RHEL systems using identities stored in an external source, implement multilevel security (MLS) to match their needs and remotely verify the integrity of their operating system’s boot environment.

RHEL now gives you more time to plan your life cycle needs by supporting upgrade paths for two-year Extended Update Support (EUS) periods. Leapp now supports in-place upgrades to the latest versions of RHEL, and Convert2RHEL now supports more flexible simultaneous landing releases. Plus, RHEL image builder can help you build standard, optimized operating system images that can be rapidly deployed across runtime environments.

RHEL for SQL

The enhanced Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server system role allows customers to install, configure and tune both single-node SQL Server environments and SQL Server always-on availability groups. This enhancement, available with the RHEL High Availability Add-Onprovides operational efficiencies for consistent task application through automation.

Red Hat Smart Management with Red Hat Satellite

Red Hat Smart Management combines the flexible and powerful infrastructure management capabilities of Red Hat Satellite with the ability to execute remediation plans from Red Hat Insights, streamlining repetitive life cycle management tasks for RHEL to increase operational efficiency and enhance system security, availability and compliance.

It comes with enhanced push-button remediation to apply Insights recommendations, enabling customers to remediate directly from the Insights interface to hosts or through the Satellite interface.

Red Hat Satellite 6.12 update brings a number of new benefits, including an updated web interface to improve stability, new performance improvements and resource usage optimization and the remote execution pull mode.

Red Hat Insights for RHEL

Red Hat Insights helps to simplify RHEL operations by using predictive analytics and comprehensive domain expertise to assess IT environments and identify and prioritize operational and software security risks while simplifying subscription tracking across hybrid cloud deployments. New features for RHEL 9.1 include:

• Subscription update—Simple Content Access (SCA) is now on by default
• Use activation keys on Hybrid Cloud Console (HCC)—making activation easier
• Snow Software integration is now generally available
• Malware detection service is now generally available
• Recommendations for edge devices are provided
• Auto-registration is available for public cloud instances

RHEL for Workstations

RHEL for Workstations 9.1 now supports Mozilla Firefox natively Gnome Wayland sessions, allowing users to use more native tools. The XWayland/X11 Gtk+ backend can still be used via an additional firefox-x11 package.

Additional resources

• Press Release
• Release Notes
• Documentation
• Product Download
• .NET 7 New Features Blog
• Get started with Red Hat Enterprise Linux