Latest update: SLES 15 gets Service Pack 7 - and support until 2037

At its in-house exhibition in Orlando, SUSE announced Service Pack 7, the latest update for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15. It includes support for so-called Confidential Computing. It is designed to protect active data in memory through encryption and thus enable the secure operation of SLES on insecure hardware. With appropriate support contracts, customers can use SLES 15 until 2037.

SLES 16 relies on proven Linux tools

The successor SLES 16 is already in preparation and the company is aiming for a release in November 2025. With the new major version, SUSE wants to focus more on popular applications. In the future, the Linux distribution will include NetworkManager instead of Wicked, which has been used to date. Integration of AppArmor and SELinux is also planned. SUSE is also changing the versioning starting with SLES 16. The developers are switching from the previous service packs to minor releases, i.e., 16.1 instead of 16 SP1.

Furthermore, multi-linux support is now available in the AWS Marketplace. In this program, SUSE offers paid support for the SLES alternatives RHEL and CentOS. Support for minor releases and upgrades of major versions are also new. After Red Hat announced the end of support for CentOS 7 last year, SUSE stepped in and has since offered support for a further three years.

Multi-Linux Manager brings bulk migrations and canary testing

In the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager, there are new features in the role concept (Role-Based Access Control) and Ansible integration. In addition, there are now bulk migrations that support the phased installation of updates and canary testing, in which a limited number of users can initially access new software. This is particularly relevant in large environments.

In addition, the supported operating systems now include Amazon Linux 2023 and Raspberry Pi OS. According to SUSE's own information, its support was the result of the requirements of an unnamed major customer. They are said to have taken over numerous single-board computers through an acquisition and want to manage them with the existing tools without additional personnel.

Furthermore, SUSE is now cooperating with Microsoft and has announced the integration of SUSE Security with Microsoft Sentinel. This is a cloud-based service for detecting, analyzing and responding to security threats. Data flows from SUSE Security to Sentinel, where it can be correlated with other data and analyzed. This also includes the use of Microsoft Copilot, whose Windows app was recently given a new interface.

(wpl)