Red Hat delivers more container love in its latest Linux update

It’s been a container-filled week thanks to the DockerCon EU show in Barcelona, but on Thursday Red Hat added its own voice to the mix with a new Linux release featuring expanded container support.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.2, which is the software’s first big update since March, is now generally available, with new additions focusing on containers, security, networking and system administration.

Included in RHEL 7.2 are updates for the Docker engine and container-management technologies including Kubernetes, Cockpit and the Atomic command. In addition, RHEL Atomic Host 7.2, the latest version of Red Hat’s container workload-optimized host platform, is available with most RHEL 7.2 subscriptions.

Also available now is the beta of the Red Hat Container Development Kit 2, a collection of images, tools and documentation to help application developers simplify the creation of container-based applications certified for deployment on Red Hat container hosts including RHEL 7.2, RHEL Atomic Host 7.2 and OpenShift Enterprise 3.

On the security front, a new Open SCAP Anaconda plug-in enables the use of security and configuration analysis based on the Security Content Automation Protocol during the installation process.

The Red Hat Identity Management system (IdM), meanwhile, now supports DNSSEC for DNS zones, creating a secure chain of trust for address resolution, the company said.

RHEL 7.2 also includes several new features for better network performance, including a Data Plane Development Kit for developing low-latency and high-throughput custom applications. The result is doubled throughput in many cases using network function virtualization or software-defined networking, Red Hat said.

Among several new tools for system administration is Relax-and-Recover, which enables administrators to create local backups in ISO format that can be centrally archived and replicated remotely for simplified disaster recovery operations.

RHEL 7.2 is compatible with Red Hat Insights, an operational analytics service that’s available for up to 10 RHEL 7 systems at no additional cost to help customers detect technical issues before they affect business operations.

Focusing on the ARM architecture, a development preview of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server for ARM 7.2 is now available as well.