TurnKey Linux: TurnKey Linux 11 released (part one)

This was mostly a side effect of the original (misguided) plan to do one big massive release with over 80 appliances.

What's changed since the release candidates

• VM optimized builds: are now available, in two exciting flavors...

  1. Default: this is primary downloadable VM build. Works best with VirtualBox, low-end VMWare products (Player, Workstation, Server).
  2. OVF: OVF is the new VM standard supported by VirtualBox and high-end VMWare products (e.g., ESX, vSphere).

  We're also working on providing images optimized for other popular virtualization platforms such as Xen, UEC / Eucalyptus and OpenVZ.

• Default passwords: You no longer have to keep track of any default passwords or change them after installation. TurnKey now helps you configure them on first boot, via the console.

  For headless deployments without a console, it's possible to pre-seed answers to first boot configuration questions.

• /etc under git: Automatic revision control of /etc using etckeeper, as suggested by Jeremiah Snapp. If a configuration change you made breaks something, just roll it back!

• LVM snapshots: Fixed LVM snapshots by adding 10% unallocated disk space to default LVM configuration. This will make it easier to add support for atomic filesystem backups in upcoming versions of TKLBAM.

• Amazon EC2 / TurnKey Hub related changes:

  • Hub does TKL 11: TurnKey Hub now deploys TurnKey Linux 11 images by default, though support for older legacy images is still available to ease migration.

  • Basic pre-launch configuration: No more having to fiddle with the default passwords after an instance launches. TurnKey Hub now supports pre-seeding appliance configuration before launch. This makes up for not having console access that would usually be required for first boot configuration.

  • TKLBAM pre-initialization: No more having to cut and paste your Hub APIKEY to initialize TKLBAM. The TurnKey Hub pre-initializes TKLBAM automatically when the instance is first launched.

  • Upgradeable Kernels: We've figured out how to make it easy update the kernel.

    Kernel upgrades were previously not supported on Amazon EC2, because each Amazon Machine Image (AMI) had to be associated with a specific Amazon Kernel Image (AKI). Now instead of associating the image to a specific kernel, we associate it with a special EC2 compatible bootloader (pv-grub), which can bootstrap whatever kernel is configured from within the system (e.g., security fix).

• Updated website documentation

  • All 45 appliance pages (e.g., TurnKey Core) now reflect the latest image versions.
  • Documented appliance build types.
  • Updated virtualbox installation tutorial, virtualization notes, automatic security updates pages.

• Bug fixes: An assortment of fixes for issues reported by the community.

See the previous announcement of the release candidates for changes since the last maintenance release (2009.10-2, based on Ubuntu 8.04 LTS).

Many, many thanks to...

• Everyone who helped test the release candidates and provided ideas and feedback.
• The many rivers of upstream: Ubuntu, Debian and all of the wonderful open source communities who give love and write code for the software that goes into TurnKey.
• JedMeister, Adrian Moya, Basil Kurian, and Rik Goldman - pillars of the TurnKey community who have inspired us with their dedication and generosity.
• TurnKey enthusiasts everywhere. Without you, TurnKey's audience, there really wouldn't be a point!

What's next

• Images optimized for Xen, Eucalyptus / UEC and OpenVZ
• Part 2: double the size of the library
• 64-bit support
• Debian squeeze based beta builds (we've decided to skip Lenny)
• PostgreSQL support for TKLBAM
• TurnKey Hub stuff
  • Support for Amazon EBS backed root devices
  • Support for micro instances. Amazon's 1-year free tier will now allow free evaluation of TurnKey on Amazon EC2.
  • Support for larger instances (64-bit support required).
  • Support for more hosting providers.