KVM Repositories and Channels: Yum and ULN

WARNING:

Oracle Linux 7 is now in Extended Support. See Oracle Linux Extended Support and Oracle Open Source Support Policies for more information.

Migrate applications and data to Oracle Linux 8 or Oracle Linux 9 as soon as possible.

The following tables provide a list of Oracle Linux 7 Yum repositories and ULN channels that you can use for KVM deployment.

Note:

Because of the availability of different kernel versions and the requirement for more updated versions of user space tools, several different versions of Yum repositories and ULN channels are available for use. Packages for each channel have different use cases and different levels of support.

Table 1-4 Oracle Linux 7 x86_64 Platforms: YUM Repository Files and ULN Channel Names

Yum Repository ULN Channel KVM Stack Description

Yum Repository	ULN Channel	KVM Stack	Description
`ol7_latest`	`ol7_x86_64_latest`	Default KVM Stack	These packages include the Default KVM Stack which maximize compatibility with Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK) and with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Fully supported on all Linux kernels.
`ol7_kvm_utils`	`ol7_x86_64_kvm_utils`	Oracle KVM Stack Requires UEK	These packages take advantage of newer features and functionality available in upstream sources. The packages are engineered to work with Oracle KVM Stack features that are enabled in the latest releases of UEK. If you install these packages, you must also install the latest version of UEK R4 or UEK R5. Note – The `ol7_kvm_utils` and `ol7_x86_64_kvm_utils` channels distribute 64-bit packages only. If you manually installed any 32-bit packages, for example, `libvirt-client`, Yum updates from these channels will fail. To use the `ol7_kvm_utils` and `ol7_x86_64_kvm_utils` channels, you must first remove any 32-bit versions of the packages distributed by these channels that are installed on the system. You can choose to configure on-premises virtualization the same way that you configure systems on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure or other Oracle products that use KVM. Oracle Linux provides specific virtualization packages in this channel to assist with the configuration. Limited support coverage is only available for KVM packages tested on Oracle Linux 7 with UEK. The following limitations and requirements apply: A minimum of Oracle Linux 7.4 is required. A minimum of Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 4 is required. Guest operating system images, as supported Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and described at https://docs.oracle.com/iaas/Content/Compute/References/images.htm. KVM guests boot by using iSCSI, VirtIO, VirtIO-SCSI or IDE device emulation.
`ol7_developer` `ol7_developer_kvm_utils`	`ol7_x86_64_developer` `ol7_x86_64_developer_kvm_utils`	Oracle Developer KVM Stack Requires UEK	These developer packages take advantage of newer features and functionality that's available upstream source repository. However, these packages are unsupported and available for developer use only. Note – If you're using the Oracle Linux YUM server, you can configure these repositories by installing the `oraclelinux-developer-release-el7` package and then enabling these repositories by editing the repository files or by using `yum-config-manager`.

ol7_latest

ol7_x86_64_latest

Default KVM Stack

These packages include the Default KVM Stack which maximize compatibility with Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK) and with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Fully supported on all Linux kernels.

ol7_kvm_utils

ol7_x86_64_kvm_utils

Oracle KVM Stack

Requires UEK

These packages take advantage of newer features and functionality available in upstream sources. The packages are engineered to work with Oracle KVM Stack features that are enabled in the latest releases of UEK. If you install these packages, you must also install the latest version of UEK R4 or UEK R5.

Note – The ol7_kvm_utils and ol7_x86_64_kvm_utils channels distribute 64-bit packages only. If you manually installed any 32-bit packages, for example, libvirt-client, Yum updates from these channels will fail. To use the ol7_kvm_utils and ol7_x86_64_kvm_utils channels, you must first remove any 32-bit versions of the packages distributed by these channels that are installed on the system.

You can choose to configure on-premises virtualization the same way that you configure systems on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure or other Oracle products that use KVM. Oracle Linux provides specific virtualization packages in this channel to assist with the configuration.

Limited support coverage is only available for KVM packages tested on Oracle Linux 7 with UEK. The following limitations and requirements apply:

A minimum of Oracle Linux 7.4 is required.
A minimum of Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 4 is required.
Guest operating system images, as supported Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and described at https://docs.oracle.com/iaas/Content/Compute/References/images.htm.
KVM guests boot by using iSCSI, VirtIO, VirtIO-SCSI or IDE device emulation.

ol7_developer ol7_developer_kvm_utils

ol7_x86_64_developer ol7_x86_64_developer_kvm_utils

Oracle Developer KVM Stack

Requires UEK

These developer packages take advantage of newer features and functionality that's available upstream source repository. However, these packages are unsupported and available for developer use only.

Note – If you're using the Oracle Linux YUM server, you can configure these repositories by installing the oraclelinux-developer-release-el7 package and then enabling these repositories by editing the repository files or by using yum-config-manager.

Table 1-5 Oracle Linux 8 64-bit Arm Platforms: Yum Repository Files and ULN Channel Names

Yum Repository File	ULN Channel Name	Virtualization Packages Included
`ol7_latest`	`ol7_aarch64_latest`	Includes the latest virtualization packages that are available and fully supported on Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 5. The Arm platform runs only with Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release (UEK). These virtualization packages, in this case, are available for developer use only.
`ol7_developer`	`ol7_aarch64_developer`	These packages take advantage of newer features and functionality that are available upstream, but are made available for developer use only. The Arm platform runs only with Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release (UEK). The virtualization packages that are part of this repository or channel are available for developer use only.

Important Usage Note:

Virtualization Developer Packages – The virtualization developer versions ol7_developer_EPEL and ol7_aarch64_developer) are for developer use only. These packages contain untested virtualization features that might conflict with other virtualization packages. If you don't intend to use the developer virtualization packages, we recommend that you uninstall these packages on the system or exclude them from being installed.