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ZDNET Highlights
- SLES comes with 16 built-in model reference protocols.
- The new enterprise distro is ready for digital sovereignty.
- This impressive upgrade introduces a number of changes and new features.
Lots of companies are announcing AI this and AI that, but few of them offer more than new AI lipstick on an old pig when you look at them closer. Then, what’s there SUSE is doing with the release of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16 (SLES 16)Available today. This new version is positioned as an AI-ready operating system in line with the demands of today’s hybrid cloud, data center and edge computing environments.
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The most important AI component of SLES 16 is the technology preview of an underlying Model Reference Protocol (MCP) host. MCP has become agentic Building AI-powered applications. Developed as an open standard by Anthropocene at the end of 2024MCP is designed to seamlessly and securely connect large language models (LLM) and AI agents to vast, ever-changing landscapes of real-world data, tools, and services.
Additionally, the release includes built-in support for the latest Nvidia GPU acceleration CUDA Toolkitand advanced container and Kubernetes management for large-scale, compute-intensive deployments. In short, it is an AI-ready Linux distribution.
SUSE: European Linux for digital sovereignty
Additionally, SUSE is supporting this new release with its Sovereign Premium Support (SPS) package. This comprehensive support service is designed to meet the growing demand for digital sovereignty. Specifically, SPS is designed for enterprises and organizations that require strict data residence, privacy and operational controls within the EU. The service ensures that:
- All support personnel and data are based in the EU, with each customer assigned a designated premium support engineer and service delivery manager.
- Customer support data is stored exclusively on EU-based networks and servers, which addresses both regulatory and geopolitical concerns.
- Access to sensitive data is strictly limited to EU-based employees, with a commitment to encrypt all data necessary for troubleshooting.
SUSE partners to strengthen sovereignty exoscaleA leading European cloud provider, allowing businesses to deploy SLES on Exoscale’s secure, EU-compliant cloud environment. This effort will enable organizations to maintain local data control while leveraging trusted, open-source solutions. As Exoscale CEO Mathias Naubauer explained, “Digital sovereignty is no longer a niche requirement; it is a fundamental requirement Business necessity for European companies.,
SUSE has also entered into an alliance AI and Partners To support compliance with EU AI ActThe combination of infrastructure and regulatory technology for sectors such as finance and health care. “Beneath the surface of any AI platform lies an infrastructure of trust: secure infrastructure and auditable operations. This is what powers secure, cloud native AI,” said Abhinav Puri, VP and GM of Portfolio Solutions and Services, SUSE.
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Finally, SUSE has joined in Eurostack initiativeIt is a policy and funding alliance focused on developing European digital infrastructure encompassing cloud, AI and connectivity platforms. The move aligns SUSE with the broader EU strategy for open-source-based digital sovereignty.
What’s under the SLES 16 hood?
Although all of this should draw the attention of those who value digital sovereignty or want to run AI on their own hardware, SLES 16 may have the most dramatic changes of any SLES release to date.
It starts with installation. SUSE has finally given up Yes installer for new Agama InstallerAgama enables local and remote deployment via browser, is written in Rust for better memory protection, and maintains compatibility with AutoYaST profiles for seamless migration from existing AutoYaST profiles.
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SLES 16 also made its new debut Adaptive Linux PlatformWhich separates the host Linux from the application layer. This is being done to avoid the age-old Linux problem dependency hellBy separating applications and their dependencies from the operating system, you can use the latest version, even beta, if you need it for development, while continuing to support older versions of your applications over a more stable version for production. It also enables simplified updates and improved stability in deployment across different environments.
The new distro has also adopted the UsrEtc model for configuration files. This means that distributor defaults now reside in /usr, while local administrator customizations now reside in /etc/example.conf.d/*.conf. This separation makes updates cleaner and finally eliminates the long-standing problem of managing .rpmsave and .rpmnew files.
There have also been significant changes to SLES’s default programs:
- Networking: network manager Now the only networking stack to replace the rogue.
- Firewall: NFT Tables It is now the default, replacing IPTables.
- DHCP: KEA DHCP Replaces the old ISC DHCP server.
- Virtualization: SLES 16 focuses specifically on kvm As a general purpose hypervisor. The Xen hypervisor has been removed.
- Key-Value Store: valkiThe community-driven fork replaces Redis.
- Display Server: welland Replaces X.org Server as the default, although support for X11 applications remains.
The latest SLES also features a new security approach. SLES 16 has been infected apparmor To SELinux As the default Mandatory Access Control (MAC) framework, SELinux is enabled in Enforcing mode by default. The new SLES SELinux comes with over 440 policy modules, allowing you to get started with ready-to-run, robust coverage for your enterprise security needs.
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SLES 16 also includes post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms. This actively protects data from “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks, where adversaries can store encrypted data today only to decrypt it with a quantum computer in the future. (If you don’t think you need to worry about this, think again. It will. And it might not take that much time.)
Linux also has new management tools. For practical server management, SLES 16 has been moved to yesST2 To cockpitfrom system administrator red hat Universe will recognize Cockpit at a glance, but new users should know that it is an easy-to-use, web-based, remote management console. To make it easier for longtime SUSE administrators, the cockpit has been updated to seamlessly manage SLES-specific tasks like accessing software repositories, package installations, and SUSE subscriptions.
SUSE is also expanding automatic snapshot integration in Cockpit. With each update made using the Zipp Package Manager or Cockpit, a new snapshot will be created, and the system will retain them to ensure that system changes can always be rolled back.
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At DevOps levels above, SLES 16 is now included answerableYes, this is also a Red Hat-based automation framework. SUSE is shipping it with standardized Ansible roles for consistent SLES configuration. This includes the roles of firewall, SELinux, podman Container Manager, and related services. like Salt For your DecOps needs? Full support lasts through salt SUSE Multi-Linux Manager,
extended support
If you work at a company that doesn’t like to move from one version of the operating system to another, SLES 16 comes with a 16-year support promise. Each minor version now receives five years of support. Specifically, each will come with two years of normal support, followed by three years of optional long-term support. Overall the major edition is backed by 10 years of mainstream support and six years of extended service, allowing customers to align upgrade cycles with hardware refreshes and regulatory requirements.
Additionally, the terminology of SUSE has evolved. Moving forward, Service Packs (SP) are now minor releases and long-term service pack support (LTSS) is now long-term support (LTS). This matches how other Linux distributions describe the development of their releases.
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Additionally, for long-term support, SLES 16 is all set to extend beyond 2038. The 32-bit time_t counter overflow issue, known as the “Y2038 issue”, has been addressed by updating key components and interfaces, including lastlog, utp, and systemd-logind.
When I consider the whole package, I’m impressed. SUSE has gone out of its way to create a thoughtful new enterprise Linux distribution that embraces modern software. If you haven’t recently evaluated SLES for your server, cloud, and edge needs, now is the time to take another look. I think you’ll be impressed too.
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