Red Hat Enterprise Linux
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This section may require copy-editing. |
 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5's default GNOME desktop (Tikanga) |
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| Company / developer | Red Hat, Inc. |
|---|---|
| OS family | Unix-like |
| Working state | Current |
| Source model | Free and open source software |
| Initial release | March 31, 2003 (RHL discontinued) & stated as RHEL on 26 March 2002 |
| Latest stable release | 5.4 / 2009-9-02 |
| Marketing target | commercial market (include Mainframes, Servers, Workstations) |
| Available language(s) | Multilingual |
| Update method | Yum (PackageKit) |
| Package manager | RPM Package Manager |
| Supported platforms | IA-32, x86-64, PowerPC, i386, ia64, s390, s390x |
| Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux) |
| Userland | GNU |
| Default user interface | GNOME |
| License | Various |
| Website | www.redhat.com/rhel/ |
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux distribution produced by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market, including mainframes. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86_64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM zSeries, and desktop versions for x86 and x86_64. All of Red Hat's official support and training, and the Red Hat Certification Program center around the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is often abbreviated to RHEL, although this is not an official designation.[1]
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has no fixed release cycle. According to Tim Burke, VP of Engineering at Red Hat, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 is currently under development and scheduled for release in the first half of 2010.[2]
When Red Hat releases a new version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, customers may upgrade to the new version at no additional charge as long as they are in possession of a current subscription (i.e. the subscription term has not yet lapsed).
Red Hat's first Enterprise offering (Red Hat Linux 6.2E) essentially consisted of a version of Red Hat Linux 6.2 with different support levels, and without separate engineering.
The first version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux to bear the name originally came onto the market as "Red Hat Linux Advanced Server". In 2003 Red Hat rebranded Red Hat Linux Advanced Server to "Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS", and added two more variants, Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES and Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS.
Verbatim copying and redistribution of the entire Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution is not permitted due to trademark restrictions.[3] However, there are several redistributions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux minus trademarked features (such as logos and the name).
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[edit] Variants
As of 2005[update] Red Hat distributed four variants of Red Hat Enterprise Linux:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS for mission-critical/enterprise computer systems.
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES for supported network servers
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS for technical power-user desktops or high-performance computing
- Red Hat Desktop – for multiple deployments of single-user desktops
There are also "Academic" editions of the Desktop and Server variants. They are offered to schools and students, are less expensive, and are provided with Red Hat technical support as an optional extra. Web support based on number of customer contacts can be purchased separately.
It is often assumed the branding ES and AS stand for "Entry-level Server" and "Advanced Server", respectively. The reason for this is that the ES product is indeed the company's base enterprise server product, while AS is the more advanced product. However, nowhere on its site or in its literature does Red Hat say what AS, ES and WS stand for.
In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 there are new editions that substitute former Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS/ES/WS/Desktop:[4][5]
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform (former AS)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (former ES) (limited to 2 CPU-s)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop with Workstation and Multi-OS option
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop with Workstation option (former WS)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop with Multi-OS option
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (former Desktop)
Red Hat had also announced its Red Hat Global Desktop Linux edition "for emerging markets"[6]. But as per a recent press release it has totally dropped the idea of its Global Desktop. "There won't be a consumer desktop from Red Hat as it's not going to be profitable".
[edit] Relationship to free or community distributions
Originally, Red Hat based Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Red Hat Linux, but using a much more conservative release cycle. Later versions included technologies from the Red Hat sponsored Fedora community distribution project. Red Hat Enterprise Linux release schedules do not follow that of Fedora, which forms the basis of Red Hat, thus:
- Red Hat Linux 6.2 → Red Hat Linux 6.2E
- Red Hat Linux 7.2 → Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1
- Red Hat Linux 9 → Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
- Fedora Core 3 → Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
- Fedora Core 6 → Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
[edit] Rebuilds
Originally, Red Hat's enterprise product, then known as Red Hat Linux, was made freely available to anybody who wished to download it, while Red Hat made money from support. Red Hat then moved towards splitting its product line into Red Hat Enterprise Linux which was designed to be stable and with long-term support for enterprise users and 'Fedora' as the community distribution and project sponsored by Red Hat. The use of trademarks prevents verbatim copying of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Since Red Hat Enterprise Linux is based completely on free and open source software, Red Hat makes available the complete source code to its enterprise distribution through its FTP site to anybody who wants it. Accordingly, several groups have taken this source code and compiled their own versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, typically with the only changes being the removal of any references to Red Hat's trademarks and pointing the update systems to non-Red Hat servers. Groups which have undertaken this include CentOS (the most popular as of March 2009),[7] Scientific Linux, White Box Enterprise Linux, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, StartCom Enterprise Linux, Pie Box Enterprise Linux, X/OS, [8], and Lineox. Oracle Corporation has also recently come out with its own repackaging of Red Hat Enterprise Linux called Oracle Enterprise Linux as part of its Unbreakable Linux program but does not provide a free mechanism for applying updates without paying a service fee as with Red Hat.
Rebuilds of Red Hat Enterprise Linux are free but do not get any commercial support or consultancy services from Red Hat and lack any software, hardware or security certifications. Also, the rebuilds do not get access to Red Hat services like Red Hat Network.
[edit] Commercial products based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
A number of commercial vendors use Red Hat Enterprise Linux as a base for the operating system in their products. The most well-known is the Console Operating System in VMware ESX Server.
[edit] Version history
The various Red Hat Linux versions have little different Errata Support Policies
- Red Hat Linux 6.2E (Zoot), 27 March 2000
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 AS (Pensacola), 2002-03-26[9]
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 ES (Panama), May 2003
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 (Taroon), 22 October 2003. Uses Linux 2.4.21 (Release notes also for updates)
- Update 1, 2004-01-16
- Update 2, 2004-05-18
- Update 3, 2004-09-03
- Update 4, 2004-12-21
- Update 5, 2005-05-20
- Update 6, 2005-09-28
- Update 7, 2006-03-15
- Update 8, 2006-07-20
- Update 9, 2007-06-15
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (Nahant), 2005-02-15. Uses Linux 2.6.9
- 4.1, also known as Update 1, 2005-06-09 (Release Notes)
- 4.2, also known as Update 2, 2005-10-05 (Release Notes)
- 4.3, also known as Update 3, 2006-03-07 (Release Notes)
- 4.4, also known as Update 4, 2006-08-11 (Release Notes)
- 4.5, also known as Update 5, 2007-05-01 (Release Notes)
- 4.6, also known as Update 6, 2007-11-15 (Release Notes)
- 4.7, also known as Update 7, 2008-07-24 (Release Notes)
- 4.8, also known as Update 8, 2009-05-18 (Release Notes)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (Tikanga), 2007-03-14. Uses Linux 2.6.18 (Release notes)
- 5.1, also known as Update 1, 2007-11-07 (Release Notes)
- 5.2, also known as Update 2, 2008-05-21 (Release Notes, single file)
- 5.3, also known as Update 3, 2009-01-19 (Release Notes)
- 5.4, also known as Update 4, 2009-09-02 (Release Notes)
[edit] References
- ^ "Tips and tricks: How do I properly refer to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 in documentation and when conversing with fellow users and customers?". redhatmagazine.com. 2008-02-04. http://www.redhatmagazine.com/2008/02/04/tips-and-tricks-rhel-ref/. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
- ^ "Red Hat Summit - videos, presentations and outlook for RHEL6". The H Online. 2009-09-09. http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Red-Hat-Summit-videos-presentations-and-outlook-for-RHEL6-743323.html. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
- ^ "ESR: "We Don't Need the GPL Anymore"". onlamp.com. http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/06/30/esr_interview.html. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
- ^ "Moving to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5". Red Hat. http://www.redhat.com/rhel/moving/. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
- ^ "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Version Comparison Chart". Red Hat. http://www.redhat.com/rhel/compare/. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
- ^ "Red_Hat_Global_Desktop_Linux:_The_Best_Kept_Secret?". linuxtoday.com. http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-08-03-031-26-OP-RH-SW. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
- ^ "Linux Distributions - Facts and Figures". distrowatch.com. http://distrowatch.com/stats.php?section=popularity. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
- ^ "Cisco Unified Communications Manager - Hardware, Software and Clustering". http://searchnetworkingchannel.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid100_gci1316822,00.html. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Updates". Red Hat. http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/notes/. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
[edit] Further reading
- Jang, Michael H.. RHCE Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (RHEL 5). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0072264548.
- Ghori, Asghar (2009). Red Hat Certified Technician & Engineer (RHEL 5). Reston: Global Village Publishing. ISBN 978-1615844302.
- Fox, Tammy (2007). Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed. Indianapolis, Ind.: Sams. ISBN 978-0672328923. OCLC 137291425.
- McCarty, Bill (2004). Learning Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly. ISBN 978-0596005894. OCLC 55130915.
- Negus, Christopher (2008). Fedora 9 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Bible. Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley. ISBN 978-0470373620. OCLC 222155845.
- Sobell, Mark G. (2008). Practical Guide to Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0137142958. OCLC 216616647.
- Collings, Terry (2005). Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 For Dummies. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. ISBN 978-0764577130. OCLC 58973830.
- Petersen, Richard (2005). Red Hat Enterprise Linux & Fedora Core 4: The Complete Reference. London: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0072261547. OCLC 62293551.
[edit] External links
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux homepage
- Brian Stevens, CTO and vice president of engineering, Red Hat on why Red Hat Enterprise Linux is "The Business OS for Flexibility and Value"
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux at DistroWatch
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