Red Hat announced the beta release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 in the blog post What’s new in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Beta on 3 November 2021.
Let’s have a look at some facts about the beta:
- The release has a codename of ‘Plow‘ (following on from Oopta which was the name for RHEL 8)
- The kernel is based on 5.14.0 (versus 4.18.0 in RHEL8)
- glibc is at version 2.34
- systemd is at version 249
- python is at version 3.9
- bash is at version 5.1.8
- dnf is at version 4.10
- rpm is at version 4.16
- sudo is at version 1.9.5
- The release is based on Fedora 34 – list of changes in Fedora 34
Official Documentation – Beta
- Release Notes for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Beta
- Considerations in adopting RHEL 9 – An overview of changes in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 since Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Developers – Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 is now available
Press and forum links – Beta
- The Register: CentOS Stream^W^W Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 emerges in beta form
- Phoronix: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Beta Released
- ZDNet: The first fruits of CentOS Stream: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Beta
- Network World: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 drops in beta version
- Silicon Angle: Red Hat focuses on simplified automation and container development in RHEL 9 Beta release
- 9 to 5 Linux: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Enters Beta with Exciting New Features and Many Improvements
- Cloud7 News: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Beta 9 with kernel version 5.14 is now available
- Linux Stoney: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 beta testing has begun
What to expect
On 23 February 2022, the The Red Hat Enterprise Linux YouTube Channel hosted an hour long overview of what to expect in RHEL 9.0.
Notes
This post is not endorsed or affiliated with Red Hat – the information provided is based on experience, documentation and publicly available information. Feel free to leave feedback at the end of this page if anything needs correction.
For an up to date roadmap discussion on RHEL please contact your Red Hat Account rep.
Getting Started
The easiest way to get the RHEL 9 Beta is to sign up for the no-cost developer program. Once done you can download a QCOW image, Boot ISO or Binary DVD from the Red Hat portal by clicking on the Downloads link in the top bar, and first selecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. On the following page change the ‘product variant’ to ‘Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 Beta’ and the page should refresh with ‘9.0 Beta (latest)’.
Alternatively, you can follow this link: No-cost RHEL for developers subscription
Updates
Be aware that as of 16 January 2022, Red Hat had published three dated sets of ISOs. One with a modification date of 30 October 2021, one with a modification date of 8 December 2021 (labelled Update 1) and another with a modification date of 11 January 2022 (labelled Update 2). You will most likely want the most up to date version. (Note: that the link on the developers website wasn’t updated for update 1 or 2 when I visited on 13 January)
Revisiting the Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 Beta 9 in the middle of February 2022 we saw that Update 3 has been released, in March 2022 we have Update 4 and April 2022 we have Update 5 – here’s a quick table to sumarise:
| Label | Modified Date |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Beta Binary DVD | 2021-10-30 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Beta Update 1 Binary DVD | 2021-12-08 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Beta Update 2 Binary DVD | 2022-01-11 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Beta Update 3 Binary DVD | 2022-02-01 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Beta Update 4 Binary DVD | 2022-03-01 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Beta Update 5 Binary DVD | 2022-04-05 |
One nice surprise is that if you installed an earlier release (I installed update 1) and registered it with Red Hat, you will be able to receive the updates. There’s no need to re-install.
Note that these updates are just package updates rather than formal ‘errata’ with Security, Bugfix and Enhancement classifications.
Significant Changes
RHEL 9 was officially released on the Red Hat portal on 17 May 2022. For a full list of significant changes, please visit RHEL 9 Resources as this page details exactly what has ended up in the final GA release.
Downstream rebuilds
AlmaLinux
I couldn’t find anything formal about an Almalinux 9 Beta as of April 2022, On 19 April 2022, AlmaLinux have announced that AlmaLinux 9 Beta is now available. Links:
- AlmaLinux 9 Blog – AlmaLinux 9 Beta – Now Available
- AlmaLinux Wiki – AlmaLinux 9.0 Beta Release Notes
- https://repo.almalinux.org/development/almalinux/9/devel/
Rocky Linux 9
We have begun initializing the foundation (release and core packages) needed to start on Rocky Linux 9. We have begun importing the RHEL 9 beta sources as well as CentOS Stream 9 sources. In the coming days, we plan on bootstrapping the necessary components for 9. We look forward to sharing more about this with you very soon.
https://rockylinux.org/news/community-update-december-2021/