Sedan: In SUSECon, SUSE, a global leader in cloud-native and Linux software, announced significant improvements to its entire family of Linux distributions. These new capabilities focus on providing faster time to value and reduced operational costs, emphasizing the importance of choice in today’s complex IT landscape.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15 Service Pack (SP) 6 is the core of these updates. This update future-proofs IT workloads with a new long-term service (LTS_Pack Support Core). How long is the long term? Would you believe 19 years old? This gives SLES the longest-term support period in the enterprise Linux market. Even Ubuntu, which Canonical recently extended its LTS for 12 yearsIt doesn’t come close.
Also: I’ve used Linux for 30 years. 5 reasons why I will never switch to Windows or MacOS
You may be wondering, “Why 19 years?” Rick Spencer, general manager of Business Critical Linux (BCL) at SUSE, explained in an interview that the reason is that at 03:14:08 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, also known as Coordinated Universal Time) on Tuesday, January 19 2038, we reach the end. of computing time. Well, not really, but Linux and all other Unix-based operating systems, including some versions of MacOS, reach what is called the Epoch.
That’s when the timing code in 32-bit Unix-based operating systems reaches the end of the seconds it has been counting since the beginning of time: 00:00:00 GMT on January 1, 1970, as far as Linux and Unix are concerned. as far as systems are concerned, and resets to zero. Like the Y2K bug, that means all unpatched 32-bit operating systems and software will have attacks. The Linux kernel itself fixed the issue in the 2020 Linux 5.6 kernel, but many other programs have not fixed it.
Until then, though, if you’re still running SLES 15 SP6, you’ll be covered. I highly recommend updating before then, but if you want to stick with that distribution all the way, you can do so.
Also: These 5 Linux file managers are better than the ones you’re using now and they’re free
In addition, the new SLES has an updated version of the 6.4 kernel. It also includes new libraries, such as OpenSSL 3.1guaranteeing safety by complying with strict regulations.
Thinking about security, SLES now has superior confidential computer support. With confidential computing, your data is encrypted not only when it is stored or in transit on the Internet, but also in memory. SLES provides this additional level of security on systems using Intel TDX (Trust Domain Extensions) and AMD SEV (Secure Encrypted Virtualization) processors. This includes remote certification with SUSE Managerensuring end-to-end capabilities for maximum security and compliance.
SAP users will also be happy to see SLES for SAP 15 SP6 applications: This release provides SAP customers and partners with a secure and reliable Linux platform to run mission-critical SAP workloads, from the data center to the cloud. Includes access to the latest innovations from trentan open source web application that helps system administrators avoid common infrastructure issues with SAP systems that can cause service deployment delays or unplanned downtime.
If you prefer a lighter Linux distribution for edge computing or smaller servers, SUSE also released SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 6.0. This immutable, lightweight, and secure open source host operating system is optimized for virtualized and containerized workloads. Simplifies standalone container deployments and provides a stable platform for Kubernetes implementations. It also includes full disk encryption support to strengthen the security of your data.
SUSE is also building its own platform for AI using its Linux distributions called SUSE IA. This is not your usual AI game. Instead of building your own large language model (LLM) and chatbot, SUSE provides the tools businesses need to build their own private, secure AI programs. For example, if you want to use your own data without worrying about someone looking over your virtual shoulder to create an intelligent AI problem solver for your products, SUSE allows you to create just that.
Also: 5 Linux Commands You Need to Know to Troubleshoot
On one side of the core SUSE family is the latest version of SUSE Linux, SUSE Liberty Lite Linux. This distribution is a replacement for CentOS 7, which, while still very popular, will reach end of life on June 30. SUSE’s answer is a true drop-in replacement. You can literally switch your repositories from CentOS to Liberty Lite and still work.
Additionally, Liberty Linux Lite is the first Linux distribution based on Linux codebase from the Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA). At OpenELA, CIQ, Oracle and SUSE joined forces to create a Linux codebase for RHEL clones.
Regardless of which SLES you are running, you can use SUSE Administrator 5.0 to control your server and Linux instances. In fact, SUSE Manager supports much more than just the SLES family. It now supports over 16 different Linux distributions. These include Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), its numerous clones; Debian; Mint; and UbuntuLinux. In fact, you can even use it with the Raspberry Pi operating system, formerly Raspian, so you can manage your Raspberry Pis and your big hardware.
Also: Why I use the Linux tree command daily and what it can do for you
SUSE Manager, based on the Salt DevOps Systems, offers automated patch management and compliance for any Linux, anywhere, at any scale. It is containerized for increased resiliency, scalability, and portability, and adds remote certification capabilities for SLEX 15 SP6.
Get the image? SUSE remains fully committed to SLES. In fact, the company is already working on additional innovations for the next major release of its business-critical Linux platform: SLES 16 and SLES for SAP Applications 16 in 2025. Tomorrow looks bright for both SUSE and Linux.