Oracle Linux 7 Update 4 Reaches General Availability

Oracle has released the latest update of its Oracle Linux operating system, providing organizations with a freely-available enterprise Linux operating system.

Oracle Linux 7 Update 4 is based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 release that first debuted on August 1. Oracle has been building its own Linux distribution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux since October 2006.

A key difference between Oracle Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux however is in the Linux kernel. Oracle Linux has long offered a Red Hat-Compatible Kernel as well as its own Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Oracle Linux (UEK). The UEK is optimized for Oracle application deployment, including Oracle’s enterprise database.

The Red Hat kernel in Oracle Linux 7 Update 4 is Linux 3.10.0-693, while UEK is the 4.1.13-94.3.9 update. Among the notable improvements in the UEK version is an update for the overlay file system and XFX.

“This update includes a patch that prevents mounting an overlay file system on XFS where the XFS file system is not formatted to support d_type entries,” the UEK release notes state. “This change helps to prevent file system corruption issues and instability in environments that might use an overlay file system, such as Docker.”

Expanded Support for Btrfs Filesystem in Oracle Linux 7 Update 4

Oracle has also continued to expand its support for the next generation Btrfs filesystem as part of Oracle Linux 7 Update 4.

“Btrfs is the ideal filesystem for supporting containers in the cloud,” Scott Lynn, Product Strategy Director for Oracle Linux, wrote in a blog post. “We continue to support and enhance Btrfs in Oracle Linux 7 with Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 4 allowing you to continue to use Btrfs for your container cloud deployments.”

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at ServerWatch and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.