CentOS
File:CentOS full logo.svg | |
Screenshot ![]() CentOS 6.0's default GNOME desktop | |
Developer | The CentOS Project |
---|---|
OS family | Unix-like |
Working state | Current |
Source model | Free and open source software |
Initial release | 03:32:38, May 14, 2004 (UTC)[1] |
Latest release | |
Marketing target | Free computing (desktops, mainframes, servers, workstations) |
Available in | Multilingual |
Update method | Yum (PackageKit) |
Package manager | RPM Package Manager |
Platforms | i386, x86-64, PowerPC, s390, s390x |
Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux) |
Default user interface | GNOME and KDE (user-selectable) |
License | GNU GPL & various others. |
Official website | CentOS.org |
CentOS is a free operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It exists to provide a free enterprise class computing platform and strives to maintain 100% binary compatibility with its upstream distribution.[4] CentOS stands for Community ENTerprise Operating System.
CentOS is the most popular Linux distribution for web servers with almost 30% of all Linux web servers using it.[5]
Structure
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is available only through a paid subscription service that provides access to software updates and varying levels of technical support. The product is largely composed of software packages distributed under either an open source or a free software license and the source code for these packages is made public by Red Hat.
CentOS developers use Red Hat's source code to create a final product very similar to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat's branding and logos are changed because Red Hat does not allow them to be redistributed.[6]
CentOS is available free of charge. Technical support is primarily provided by the community via official mailing lists, web forums, and chat rooms. The project is not affiliated with Red Hat and thus receives no financial or logistical support from the company; instead, the CentOS Project relies on donations from users and organizational sponsors.
Versioning scheme
CentOS version numbers have two parts, a major version and a minor version. The major and minor version numbers respectively correspond to the major version and update set of Red Hat Enterprise Linux from which the source packages used to build CentOS are taken. For example, CentOS 4.4 is built from the source packages from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 update 4.[7]
Since mid-2006, starting with version 4.4 (formally known as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.0 update 4), Red Hat has adopted a versioning convention identical to that of CentOS, e.g., Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.5.[8]
Release history
The architecture information is taken from the CentOS Overview page.
CentOS Release | Architectures | RHEL base | CentOS release date | RHEL release date | Delay |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | i386 | 2.1 | 2004-05-14[1] | 2002-05-17[9] | 728d |
3.1 | i386, x86-64, IA-64, s390, s390x | 3 | 2004-03-19[10] | 2003-10-23[9] | 148d |
3.3 | i386, x86-64, IA-64, s390, s390x | 3.3 | 2004-09-17 | 2004-09-03 | 14d |
3.4 | i386, x86-64, IA-64, s390, s390x | 3.4 | 2005-01-23 | 2004-12-12 | 42d |
3.5 | i386 | 3.5 | 2005-06-10[11] | 2005-05-18 | 23d |
3.6 | i386 | 3.6 | 2005-11-01[12] | 2005-09-28 | 34d |
3.7 | i386, x86-64, IA-64, s390, s390x | 3.7 | 2006-04-10[13] | 2006-03-17 | 23d |
3.8 | i386, x86-64 | 3.8 | 2006-08-25[14] | 2006-07-20 | 36d |
3.9 | i386, x86-64, IA-64, s390, s390x | 3.9 | 2007-07-26[15] | 2007-06-15 | 41d |
4 | i386, x86-64, various | 4 | 2005-03-09[16] | 2005-02-14[17] | 23d |
4.1 | i386, ia64, s390 | 4.1 | 2005-06-12[18] | 2005-06-08 | 4d |
4.2 | i386, x86_64, ia64, s390, s390x, alpha | 4.2 | 2005-10-13[19] | 2005-10-05 | 8d |
4.3 | i386, x86-64, ia64, s390, s390x | 4.3 | 2006-03-21[20] | 2006-03-12 | 9d |
4.4 | i386, x86-64 | 4.4 | 2006-08-30[21] | 2006-08-10 | 20d |
4.5 | i386, x86_64, IA-64 | 4.5 | 2007-05-17[22] | 2007-05-01 | 16d |
4.6 | i386, x86-64, IA-64, Alpha, s390, s390x, PowerPC (beta), SPARC (beta) | 4.6 | 2007-12-16[23] | 2007-11-16[24] | 30d |
4.7 | i386, x86-64 | 4.7 | 2008-09-13[25] | 2008-07-24[26] | 51d |
4.8 | i386, x86-64 | 4.8 | 2009-08-21[27] | 2009-05-18[28] | 95d |
4.9 | i386, x86-64 | 4.9 | 2011-03-02[29] | 2011-02-16[30] | 14d |
5 | i386, x86-64 | 5 | 2007-04-12[31] | 2007-03-14[32] | 28d |
5.1 | i386, x86-64 | 5.1 | 2007-12-02[33] | 2007-11-07[34] | 25d |
5.2 | i386, x86-64 | 5.2 | 2008-06-24[35] | 2008-05-21[36] | 34d |
5.3 | i386, x86-64 | 5.3 | 2009-03-31[37] | 2009-01-20[38] | 69d |
5.4 | i386, x86-64 | 5.4 | 2009-10-21[39] | 2009-09-02[40] | 49d |
5.5 | i386, x86-64 | 5.5 | 2010-05-14[41] | 2010-03-31[42] | 44d |
5.6 | i386, x86-64 | 5.6 | 2011-04-08[43] | 2011-01-13[44] | 85d |
5.7 | i386, x86-64 | 5.7 | 2011-09-13[45] | 2011-07-21[46] | 54d |
6 | i386, x86-64 | 6 | 2011-07-10[47] | 2010-11-10[48] | 242d |
6.1 | i386, x86-64 | 6.1 | TBD | 2011-05-19[49] | ? |
CentOS Release | Full Updates | Maintenance Updates |
---|---|---|
3 | 2006-07-20 | 2010-10-31 |
4 | 2009-03-31 | 2012-02-29 |
5 | Q4 2011 | 2014-03-31 |
6 | Q4 2014 | 2017-11-30 |
CentOS Release | Architectures | RHEL base | CentOS release date |
---|---|---|---|
4.7 - Server | i386, x86-64 | 4.7 | 2008-10-17[50] |
5.1 - LiveCD | i386 | 5.1 | 2008-02-18[51] |
5.2 - LiveCD | i386 | 5.2 | 2008-07-17[52] |
5.3 - LiveCD | i386 | 5.3 | 2009-05-27[53] |
5.5 - LiveCD | i386, x86-64 | 5.5 | 2010-05-14[41] |
5.6 - LiveCD | i386, x86-64 | 5.6 | 2011-04-08[43] |
6.0 - LiveCD | i386, x86-64 | 6.0 | 2011-07-25[54] |
6.0 - LiveDVD | i386, x86-64 | 6.0 | 2011-07-27[55] |
6.0 - MinimalCD | i386, x86-64 | 6.0 | 2011-07-28[56] |
Architectures
CentOS supports only the x86 architectures:[57][58]
The following architectures are not supported by CentOS (as of version 5):
- IA-64 (Intel Itanium architecture, 64-bit) (beta support since CentOS 3)
- PowerPC/32 (Apple Macintosh and PowerMac running the G3 or G4 PowerPC processor) (beta support since CentOS 3)
- IBM Mainframe (eServer zSeries and S/390) (not CentOS 5)
- Alpha (CentOS 4 only)
- SPARC (beta support since CentOS 3)
Bootable media version
- A Live CD version of CentOS is available at mirror.centos.org.
- A Live USB of CentOS can be created manually or with UNetbootin.
Tao Linux
Tao Linux was another prominent distribution derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Its primary developer announced in June 2006 that Tao would be retired and rolled into CentOS development. Tao users migrated to the CentOS release via "yum update".[59]
History and organizational difficulties
In July 2009, it was reported that CentOS's founder, Lance Davis, had disappeared in 2008. Davis had ceased contribution to the project but continued to hold the registration for the CentOS domain and PayPal account. In August 2009, the CentOS team reportedly made contact with Davis and obtained the centos.info and centos.org domains.[60]
See also
- GNU, Linux
- List of Linux distributions
- Fedora, community-supported Project, sponsored by Red Hat
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the commercial distribution on which CentOS is based
- Scientific Linux, another distribution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux which has RHEL6 clone
- Oracle Linux, another distribution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux which has RHEL6 clone
- Red Hat Linux
References
- ^ a b John Newbigin (14 May 2004). "CentOS-2 Final finally released". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
- ^ CentOS-announce - Announcing the latest release of CentOS Linux 8 (2111)
- ^ CentOS-announce - Release for CentOS Linux 7 (2009) on the x86_64 Architecture
- ^ "Purpose of CentOS". CentOS Project. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
- ^ "The most popular Linux for Web servers is ..." (blog). computerworld.com.
- ^ "Red Hat License Agreements". Red Hat. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
- ^ "What is the versioning/release scheme of CentOS and how does it compare to the upstream vendor?". CentOS Project. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
- ^ "Red Hat Enterprise Linux > AS/ES/WS Basics". Red Hat. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
- ^ a b Red Hat. "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Errata Support Policy". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
- ^ Lance Davis (19 March 2004). "CentOS 3.1 has now been released". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
- ^ Lance Davis (10 June 2005). "[CentOS-announce] CentOS 3.5 i386 is released".
- ^ Lance Davis (2005-11-1). "[CentOS-announce] CentOS 3.6 is released".
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Lance Davis (10 April 2006). "[CentOS-announce] CentOS 3.7 is released".
- ^ Johnny Hughes (25 August 2006). "[CentOS-announce] Subject: CentOS 3.8 is released for i386 and x86_64".
- ^ CentOS Team (26 July 2007). "CentOS 3.9 is released for i386 and x86_64". Retrieved 21 October 2008.
- ^ DistroWatch.com (9 March 2005). "Distribution Release: CentOS 4".
- ^ DistroWatch.com (14 February 2005). "Distribution Release: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4".
- ^ Johnny Hughes (12 June 2005). "[CentOS-announce] CentOS 4 i386 - CentOS 4.1 i386 is available".
- ^ Johnny Hughes (13 October 2005). "[CentOS-announce] CentOS-4.2 is Released for i386, x86_64, ia64, s390, s390x and alpha architectures".
- ^ Johnny Hughes (21 March 2006). "[CentOS-announce] CentOS 4.3 is Released for i386, x86_64, and ia64".
- ^ Johnny Hughes (30 August 2006). "[CentOS-announce] CentOS 4.4 is released for i386 and x86_64".
- ^ Johnny Hughes (17 May 2007). "[CentOS-announce] CentOS 4.5 is released for i386, x86_64, and ia64".
- ^ DistroWatch.com (16 December 2007). "Distribution Release: CentOS 4.6". Retrieved 10 November 2008.
- ^ DistroWatch.com (16 November 2007). "Distribution Release: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.6". Retrieved 10 November 2008.
- ^ Johnny Hughes (13 September 2008). "CentOS 4.7 is released for i386 and x86_64". Retrieved 14 September 2008.
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux team (24 July 2008). "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.7 GA Announcement". Retrieved 14 September 2008.
- ^ Johnny Hughes (21 August 2009). "CentOS 4 i386 and x86_64 release of CentOS-4.8".
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux team (18 May 2009). "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.8 GA Announcement". Retrieved 12 March 2010.
- ^ Johnny Hughes (2 March 2011). "CentOS 4 i386 and x86_64 release of CentOS-4.9".
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux team (16 February 2011). "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.9 GA Announcement".
- ^ Karanbir Singh (12 April 2007). "Release for CentOS-5 i386 and x86_64". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux team (15 March 2007). "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Now Available". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
- ^ Karanbir Singh (2 December 2007). "Release for CentOS-5.1 i386 and x86_64". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux team (7 November 2007). "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 General Availability Announcement". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
- ^ Karanbir Singh (24 June 2008). "Release for CentOS-5.2 i386 and x86_64". Retrieved 3 February 2009.
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux team (21 May 2008). "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 General Availability Announcement". Retrieved 22 January 2009.
- ^ Karanbir Singh (1 April 2009). "Release for CentOS-5.3 i386 and x86_64". Retrieved 1 April 2009.
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux team (20 January 2009). "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 General Availability Announcement". Retrieved 22 January 2009.
- ^ Singh, Karanbir (21 October 2009). "[CentOS-announce] Release for CentOS-5.4 i386 and x86_64". lists.centos.org. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux team (2 September 2009). "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 GA Announcement". Retrieved 22 September 2009.
- ^ a b Singh, Karanbir (14 May 2010). "[CentOS-announce] Release for CentOS-5.5 i386 and x86_64". lists.centos.org. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (Tikanga) announcement mailing-list (31 March 2010). "[rhelv5-announce] Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 GA Announcement". Retrieved 15 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Release for CentOS-5.6 i386 and x86_64". Retrieved 8 April 2011.
- ^ "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Now Available". Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ "Release for CentOS-5.7 i386 and x86_64". 13 September 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
- ^ "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.7 Release Notes". Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ "Release for CentOS-6.0 i386 and x86_64". 10 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux team (10 November 2010). "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Now Available". Retrieved 10 November 2010.
- ^ Red Hat Enterprise Linux team (19 May 2011). "Red Hat Delivers Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ Karanbir Singh (17 October 2008). "CentOS 4.7 Server CD — i386 Released". Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ Patrice Guay (18 February 2008). "CentOS 5 i386 - The CentOS-5.1 i386 Live CD is released". Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- ^ Patrice Guay (17 July 2008). "CentOS 5 i386 - The CentOS-5.2 i386 Live CD is released". Retrieved 3 February 2009.
- ^ "[CentOS-announce] CentOS 5 i386 - The CentOS-5.3 i386 Live CD is released". CentOS mailing list. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
{{cite web}}
:|first=
missing|last=
(help) - ^ Karanbir Singh (25 July 2011). "Release for CentOS-6.0 LiveCD i386 and x86_64". Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ Karanbir Singh (27 July 2011). "Release for CentOS-6.0 LiveDVD i386 and x86_64". Retrieved 28 July 2011.
- ^ Karanbir Singh (28 July 2011). "Release for CentOS-6.0 Minimal i386 and x86_64". Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ "About CentOS". CentOS. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
- ^ "Red Hat Enterprise Linux server details". Red Hat. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
- ^ "Retirement of TaoLinux". CentOS Project. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
- ^ Perlow, Jason. (2 August 2009). CentOS: Getting Their S#!t Together is a Top Priority. ZDNet
Further reading
- Membrey, Peter (2009). The Definitive Guide to CentOS. Apress. ISBN 978-1-4302-1930-9.
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(help) - Negus, Christopher (2009). CentOS Bible. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-48165-3.
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External links
- Official website
- CentOS at DistroWatch
- CentOS 5 review on Linux.com
- PowerStack, a CentOS repository with latest LAMP versions (PHP + MySQL + Apache)
- CentOS 6 howtos