Potential users can freely download Oracle Linux through Oracle's server, or from a variety of mirror sites, and can deploy and distribute it without cost.[6] The company's Oracle Linux Support program aims to provide commercial technical support, covering Oracle Linux and existing RHEL or CentOS installations but without any certification from the former (i.e. without re-installation or re-boot).[5][7][clarification needed] As of 2016[update] Oracle Linux had over 15,000 customers subscribed to the support program.
RHEL compatibility
Oracle Corporation distributes Oracle Linux with two Linux kernels options.
Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK) – identical to the kernel shipped in RHEL
Oracle Linux is application binary compatible with RHEL. Oracle claims that existing applications run unchanged because all application interfaces are identical to RHEL.
Oracle Linux is certified on servers including from Cisco, Dell, HPE, IBM, and Lenovo. In July 2023, HPE[11] and Supermicro[12] announced[13][14] Oracle Linux support on their Arm-based servers.
Third-party software that ISVs have certified to run on Oracle Linux and Oracle VM can be found in this catalog Oracle/Sun servers with x86-64 processors can be configured to ship with Oracle Linux.
Oracle Linux is also available[15] as a Windows app through the Microsoft Store and with the Windows Subsystem for Linux[16] (WSL). [https://blogs.oracle.com/linux/post/easily-run-oracle-linux-on-your-windows-desktop]
Virtualization support
The Oracle Linux distribution includes KVM hypervisor and an oVirt-based management tool. Other supported server virtualization solutions are VMware and Xen-based Oracle VM.
Oracle Cloud Native Environment has added KubeVirt support for unified container and virtual machine management beginning with the 1.7 release. https://blogs.oracle.com/linux/post/oracle-cloud-native-environment-17-kubevirt-rook
Container and orchestration support
Linux Containers (LXC) are supported in Oracle Linux 7.[17]
Oracle Container Runtime for Docker is available on Oracle Linux 6 and 7. It’s not provided in Oracle Linux 8 or 9. https://docs.oracle.com/en/operating-systems/oracle-linux/docker/
Podman is a drop-in[18] replacement for Oracle Container Runtime for Docker in Oracle Linux 8 and Oracle Linux 9. Podman, Buildah, and Skopeo are a set of tools that you can use to create, run, and manage applications across Oracle Linux systems by using Open Container Initiative (OCI) compatible containers.
Oracle Cloud Native Environment has integrated[19]container runtimes to create and provision Open Container Initiative (OCI)-compliant containers using CRI-O, an implementation of the Kubernetes CRI (Container Runtime Interface) to enable using Open Container Initiative compatible runtimes.
Oracle Linux Container images are available via Oracle Container Registry, GitHub Container Registry and Docker Hub.
Deployment inside Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation uses Oracle Linux extensively within Oracle Public Cloud, internally to lower IT costs. Oracle Linux is deployed on more than 42,000 servers by Oracle Global IT; the SaaS Oracle On Demand service, Oracle University, and Oracle's technology demo systems also run Oracle Linux.[5]
Oracle Linux Automation Manager Is based on open source AWX project, is a task engine and web interface for scheduling and running Ansible playbooks[21]
Oracle Cloud Native Environment, a CNCF certified Kubernetes distribution, is a fully integrated suite for the development and deployment of cloud native applications.
Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager Is an oVirt-based management tool to configure, monitor, and manage an Oracle Linux KVM-based environment.
Ksplice – Oracle acquired Ksplice Inc in 2011, and offers Oracle Linux users Ksplice to enable hot kernel patching
DTrace – As of October 2011, Oracle has begun porting DTrace from Solaris as a Linux kernel module
OS Management Hub Is a managed service that manages and monitors the updates and patches for Oracle Linux systems through a centralized management console hosted on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
Benchmark submissions
Sun Fire systems
In March 2012, Oracle submitted a TPC-C benchmark result using an x86 Sun Fire server running Oracle Linux and Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel.[22] With 8 Intel Xeon processors running Oracle DB 11 R2, the system was benchmarked at handling over 5.06 million tpmC (New-Order transactions per minute while fulfilling TPC-C[23]). The server was rated at the time as the third-fastest TPC-C non-clustered system and the fastest x86-64 non-clustered system.[24][25]
Oracle also submitted a SPECjEnterprise2010 benchmark record using Oracle Linux and Oracle WebLogic Server, and achieved both a single node and an x86 world record result of 27,150 EjOPS (SPECjEnterprise Operation/second).[26]
Cisco UCS systems
Cisco submitted 2 TPC-C benchmark results that run Oracle Linux with the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel R2 on UCS systems.[27][28] The UCS systems rank fourth and eighth on the top TPC-C non-clustered list.[24]
SPARC version
In December 2010, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, in response to a question on Oracle's Linux strategy, said that at some point in the future Oracle Linux would run on Oracle's SPARC platforms.[29] At Oracle OpenWorld 2014 John Fowler, Oracle's Executive Vice President for Systems, also said that Linux will be able to run on SPARC at some point.[30]
In October 2015, Oracle released a Linux reference platform for SPARC systems based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.[31][32][33]
In September 2016, Oracle released information about an upcoming product, Oracle Exadata SL6-2, a database server using SPARC processors running Linux.[34][35]
On 31 March 2017, Oracle posted the first public release of Oracle Linux for SPARC, installable on SPARC T4, T5, M5, and M7 processors.[36] The release notes state that the release is being made available "for the benefit of developers and partners", but is only supported on Exadata SL6 hardware.[37]
Software updates and version history
In March 2012, Oracle announced free software updates and errata for Oracle Linux on Oracle's public yum repositories.[38] In September 2013, Oracle announced that each month its free public yum servers handle 80 TB of data, and the switch to the Akamaicontent delivery network to handle the traffic growth.[39]
Oracle Enterprise Linux 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9[44]
Oracle Linux uses a version-naming convention identical to that of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (e.g. the first version, Oracle Linux 4.5, is based on RHEL 4.5). They have slightly different support lifecycles.[45]
Old version, no longer maintained: 31 October 2011
—
4
Old version, no longer maintained: 28 February 2013
—
5
Old version, no longer maintained: 30 June 2017
Old version, no longer maintained: 30 November 2020
6
Old version, no longer maintained: 31 March 2021
Old version, yet still maintained: 31 December 2024
7
Old version, yet still maintained: 31 December 2024
Old version, yet still maintained: 30 June 2028
8
Old version, yet still maintained: 31 July 2029
Old version, yet still maintained: 31 July 2032
Current stable version:9
30 June 2032
30 June 2035
Legend:
Old version, not maintained
Old version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release
Oracle OpenStack for Oracle Linux
Oracle announced on 24 September 2014 Oracle OpenStack for Oracle Linux. In October 2020, Oracle deprecated support for and ceased releasing OpenStack software.
^Bach, Martin (23 January 2014). Expert Consolidation in Oracle Database 12c. SpringerLink : Bücher. Apress (published 2013). p. 139. ISBN9781430244295. Retrieved 21 April 2014. For a long time, the differences between Red Hat Linux and Oracle Linux were negligible. This was before Oracle released its own branch of the kernel - the so-called Unbreakable Linux Kernel (UEK).