Introduces support for OpenSSL 1.1.1 and TLS 1.3 protocols

Nov 19, 2018 19:48 GMT  ·  By

Red Hat Inc. announced the availability of the beta version for its upcoming Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 operating system series, which will be available for sale sometime next year.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 is the next major step in the evolution of Red Hat's Linux-based, enterprise-ready operating system, promising lots of new features and numerous improvements, along with much-needed hardened code and security fixes to make RHEL more stable, reliable, and supported across all infrastructures.

"In the four years since Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 redefined the operating system, the IT world has changed dramatically and Red Hat Enterprise Linux has evolved with it. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Beta once again sets a bar for how the operating system can enable IT innovation," writes Stefanie Chiras for Red Hat.

Here's what's coming to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

Major highlights of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 release include a new concept for delivering userspace packages with greater flexibility and more easily, called Application Streams. Red Hat says application streams won't impact the underlying stability of the operating system, nor specific, user-customized deployments.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 will also introduce more efficient Linux networking for containers via IPVLAN interfaces, a brand new TCP/IP stack that features bandwidth and round-trip propagation time (BBR) congestion control, along with support for the latest OpenSSL 1.1.1 and TLS 1.3 security protocols.

Talking about security, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 promises to make managing cryptographic compliance easier from a single prompt thanks to the implementation of system-wide cryptographic policies. Moreover, it will support LUKSv2, which, in combination with Network-Bound Disk Encryption (NBDE), will offer more robust data security.

Other noteworthy features coming to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 are an all-new volume-managing file system called Stratis, which can be used for more sophisticated data management, file system snapshots, the next generation Yum 4 package manager, better support for Linux containers, and a single, consistent user control panel.

Existing customers and Red Hat subscribers can try out the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Beta for themselves by downloading the installation images from the Red Hat Customer Portal. The rest of the world can also download Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Beta by visiting the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Public Beta website.