Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 beta adds full Ext4 support

Red Hat has released a beta version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6. With this beta, the technology preview status for the Ext4 file system has been dropped and it is now counted among the fully supported file systems.

Also included in the beta is PHP 5.3 and version 9.7 of the BIND name server, which offers such advancements as improved DNSsec support. The new versions are contained in packages that start with bind97 and php53; the older versions continue to be part of RHEL so that users can, but don't have to, switch to the new versions of Bind and PHP.

Ebtables, Dropwatch, Sssd and various packages that provide TPM support have also been added to RHEL 5 with this beta version. As usual, the developers have included several new and numerous improved drivers; particularly many of the network and storage drivers have been updated to enhance RHEL's ability to handle recent hardware components. The developers have also improved the support of various current or forthcoming processors and chip-sets by AMD and Intel.

Red Hat customers with RHEL subscription can download the RHEL 5.6 beta via the Red Hat Network (RHN) (login required). A detailed overview of the beta's advancements can be found in the release notes.

See also:

• Support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux extended by 3 years, a report from The H.
• Red Hat Summit and JBoss World 2010: Background on future versions, a feature from The H.

(crve)