We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of CentOS-5 for the i386 and x86_64 Architectures.
CentOS-5 is based on the upstream release 5, and includes packages from all variants including Server and Client. All upstream repositories have been combined into one, to make it easier for end users to work with. And the option to further enable external repositories at install time is now available in the installer.
Further Arch support for PowerPC, IA64 and Sparc are planned and will be released soon. These arch's will follow the existing pattern of release to Beta first, and then to Final.
+++++++++++++++++++++++ Verification of downloads and media
We highly recommend that all forms of downloads be verified before use. Both md5sum and sha1sum for all isos and torrents released by the CentOS project are published at the same location as the isos and torrents themselves. md5sum and sha1sum verification tools are available for all major platforms. As an added option, but not a replacement to the md5sum/sha1sum process, its possible to check media during install time.
All rpms published by the CentOS project are signed with a gpg key, and by default we configure yum to verify this signature on package download. In order to check that this is operating as normal ensure that each repository section includes two lines that look exactly like this :
gpgcheck=1 gpgsignature=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
Note: 1) url to the gpg key will never point at an external non .centos.org machine. 2) a copy of the gpg key is also provided on the install media, and installed as /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5, however do the possibility of compromised media we recommend you still verify that key with the one hosted on http://mirror.centos.org/
+++++++++++++++++++++++ Download Instructions:
First a request from us : When possible, consider using torrents to run the downloads. Not only does it help the community and keeps mirrors from running up high bandiwdth bills, in most cases you will find its also the fastest means to download the distro.
Via BitTorrent : Torrents are available for i386 at http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/5/isos/i386/ and for x86_64 at http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/5/isos/x86_64/
Via direct download: Due to bandwidth considerations the CentOS Project does not publish ISOS directly from our network machines. However direct downloads are available from external mirrors over http, ftp and rsync, and a geoip based is available at http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/5/isos/ to give you the best possible match ( and only lists mirrors that are updated already, so you dont need to go looking for a mirror with all the isos you want ! )
Some mirrors also publish DVD images that can be downloaded directly. Refer to the mirrors list page at http://www.centos.org/mirrors for more details Mirrors that offer DVD's are clearly marked on the page.
----------------------------------------------- i386 ISOS and their sha1sum's are :
820346490eb58c10ea952e62e4d61596a267edea CentOS-5.0-i386-bin-1of6.iso 8e91bf3cd0bb3ef86598a5014741d8992cf4cad5 CentOS-5.0-i386-bin-2of6.iso 71358b3260f83a37ddc084e730e34f8f9b3a9bfd CentOS-5.0-i386-bin-3of6.iso d350a93a7d32e75a65648b8a8c759039fe582f5e CentOS-5.0-i386-bin-4of6.iso 5f2dab38eb4ec415e789f754a5b3f89bd28fce1d CentOS-5.0-i386-bin-5of6.iso 30e5dee028670fd14a5d91c8a9a7b00a5c9c0f14 CentOS-5.0-i386-bin-6of6.iso d4aa041570417eeecee9021e6f8bcc845e65145a CentOS-5.0-i386-bin-DVD.iso
----------------------------------------------- x86_64 ISOS and their sha1sum's are :
1c24d7e92d6d50771f8b7b0a6695172d76352944 CentOS-5.0-x86_64-bin-1of7.iso 3c3b9dc8fbd0faec804f97602cbcc7d110babd83 CentOS-5.0-x86_64-bin-2of7.iso 527bb1c903427eb59f8a1394b44650f614813088 CentOS-5.0-x86_64-bin-3of7.iso 6b84394592e1bc6e1c40ed1e3c57f77a593f84a3 CentOS-5.0-x86_64-bin-4of7.iso 3d602beaba3c09418bd29d8e814fb55f03531def CentOS-5.0-x86_64-bin-5of7.iso 4ad9da763501845df4b29775bff4d35b82e44ace CentOS-5.0-x86_64-bin-6of7.iso aef44f965c4560317098f40f22227ada54c49751 CentOS-5.0-x86_64-bin-7of7.iso b5fb7dd9ea8d9369b5d0d14e5f51f96b1dc138bb CentOS-5.0-x86_64-bin-DVD.iso
+++++++++++++++++++++++ CentOS-5 Release Notes:
The distro release notes are available in the root directory of the install media, as well as online at http://wiki.centos.org/Manuals/ReleaseNotes/CentOS5.0/ . These include important changelog info as well as notes about the installer and outcomes from test situations which the centos-qa team worked through. Its considered essential reading.
Upstream release notes are available in the NOTES/ directory of the install media, as well as online at http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5/os/i386/NOTES/. These include release specific technologies, new features in the distro and other misc infomation that can help you better utilise the distro. Always something worth reading.
Note: some of the non-english language release notes might not come up clearly in the installer, but are fixed in the online version.
+++++++++++++++++++++++ Upgrade Options and process recommendations :
The best and most recommended way to get your existing CentOS-3/CentOS-4 machine running CentOS-5 is to update the machine via the installer. This involves booting the machine with the install media, and running a normal installation path. You will be given an option to upgrade the machine if an older CentOS install is found on the installable harddrive. You will still need to check for rpm orphans once the machine has booted into CentOS-5. Packages from non-CentOS repositories might need special attention.
There is a wiki page starting now at http://wiki.centos.org/Migration/5 to document the process's and experiences of people - so as to create a single combined knowledge base about updating to CentOS-5 from CentOS-3/4 as well as from other Distributions. So do join in and contribute.
----------------------------------------------- Online Upgrade from CentOS-5/Beta :
We recommend a fresh install, however it should be possible to in-place update a machine from CentOS-5/Beta to CentOS-5.0/Final using the folloing steps:
step-1) init 3 step-2) yum clean all; step-3) yum --disablerepo=* --enablerepo=base --enablerepo=updates update yum* rpm* step-4) yum clean all; step-5) yum --disablerepo=* --enablerepo=base --enablerepo=updates upgrade
For the final step, you should do an 'upgrade' rather than an 'update'. The yum man page has details on the differences between upgrade and update options. Also, its important to init 3 before doing the yum update in order to work around the dbus restart issues that have been widely reported. And doing the main update using the newer yum can result in upto 4 times faster update speeds, so its recommended that you first update yum and rpm.
----------------------------------------------- Online Upgrade from CentOS-4/Final
The best way to move from CentOS-4 to CentOS-5 is via an installer upgrade. However if you must do it online, here are some tips to help: - Remove as many packages as you can, strip it right back to the original OS if possible - Backup everything - Disable all repositories, except the centos-5 OS and Updates repos - init 3 - shutdown as many services as possible - download and install the centos-release-5.x rpm, which will update your yum configs - run a yum upgade ( not update )
----------------------------------------------- Online Upgrade from CentOS-3/Final
Online upgrades from CentOS-3 are not recommended. The CentOS Wiki has some details and examples from tests done by members of the centos-qa team and if you really *must* upgrade a machine running CentOS-3 to CentOS-5, I recommend you start with those notes. Feel free to contribute your experiences there.
+++++++++++++++++++++++ About release version ( Major and Minor release tracking ability )
There has been a fair bit of talk about upstream adopting a new policy on Updates and the ReleaseCycles. I'd like to clarify what that means for CentOS users and how we will approach this issue. The first thing is of-course, that no one really knows exactly what is going to happen on this front upstream. ( perhaps a better way to say the same thing would be that - noone upstream will tell us what they intend to do! ) As far as we can work out, there are going to be some options created for users as to what upgade path they intend to follow, how that is going to work and what the distro specific implementaion of this policy is going to be : open to discussion, since there is no clarity from upstream.
So we need to keep the options open. At this time time, on CentOS-5 we have created infrastructure and package management options that will allow users to either stick with the recommended default option of staying with the latest released security and bugfix rpms or to be able to branch out into minor release tree's (eg. allowing a user to keep his/her machine at CentOS-5.0.x, and not upgrading to CentOS-5.1 when it becomes available ).
+++++++++++++++++++++++ How to get help with CentOS
The best place to start when looking for help with CentOS is at the wiki ( http://wiki.centos.org/GettingHelp ) which lists various options and communities who might be able to help. If you think there is a bug in the system, do report it at http://bugs.centos.org/ - but keep in mind that the bugs system is *not* a support mechanism.
Friendly URL's : http://wiki.centos.org/ http://www.centos.org/ http://bugs.centos.org/ http://www.centos.org/donate http://lists.centos.org/
+++++++++++++++++++++++ And a big thanks to everyone who contributed to the distro, including the translation teams, the qa team, the CentOS Developers and all the Users out there.
The translation team : Ralph Angenendt, Andreas Rogge, Fabian Arrotin, Pierre Reinbold, Matteo Centonza, Roger Peña Escobio, Ernesto Perez, Hardy Beltran, Leonardo Pinheiro, Rodrigo Barbosa, David Hrbác(, Akemi Yagi, Anatoly Davidov, Daniel De Kok, Dennis van Onselen, Manuel Wolfshant, Kazuhiko Oho, Hajime Taira, Jordi Espasa Clofent, Charles A. Landemaine, Lennert Buytenhek, Dominick Grift, Mark Ruys, Roeland Struijk
The QA Team: Stephen John Smoogen, Phil Schaffner, Michael Best, John Jullian, Patrick Moelands, Chris Halstead, Daniiel De Kok, Jason Meers, Charlie Brady, Connie Sieh, Seth Vidal, Matthew Miller, Fabian Arrotin
And all the CentOS Developers who worked with us on this release: John Newbegin, Jim Perrin, Lance Davis, Ralph Angenendt, Donavan Nelson, Tru Huynh
A special wave to Gideon de Kok, who worked his machines and himself well into many nights getting the artwork done, redone, redone, retouched up, change, redone, changed some more, redone and put up with us as we continued to make changes till almost the last minute possible!
Plus the millions of users out there, you all know who you are!
Enjoy!
Johnny Hughes Jr and Karanbir Singh The CentOS Project, http://www.centos.org/