With Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4, Red Hat is emphasizing edge computing deployments, with the addition of container deployment and management capabilities geared to edge usage. RHEL 8.4 will become generally available in the coming weeks.
Announced April 27, RHEL 8.4 helps maintain standardization and control across Linux container images, beginning with updates to Red Hat’s Podman container engine, for managing containers across the hybrid cloud from a single point. Additionally, the Image Builder tool has added support for creating installation media tailored for bare metal, helping IT teams maintain a common foundation even when dealing with disconnected edge environments.
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Also getting attention in the upgrade is the Red Hat Universal Base Image (UBI). For the edge, UBI now is available in a lightweight, micro image for building redistributable, cloud-native applications on a RHEL foundation without the overhead of full kernel deployment.
RHEL 8.4 also is positioned for greater flexibility for cloud applications, with a more “holistic” view of subscription deployment and reporting via Red Hat Insights Subscriptions and improved support for Red Hat Cloud Access.
RHEL serves as the foundation of the Red Hat Edge initiative, which is intended to extend capabilities of the Red Hat hybrid cloud portfolio to the edge, supporting applications from telecommunications and transportation to enterprise devices and smart automobiles.
Other key capabilities in RHEL 8.4 include expanded security, with the addition of a RHEL system role for crypto policies and network-bound disk encryption delivered as a container, and more automated system configuration and management through the Tracer utility and RHEL Web Console updates.