This document provides an overview of new features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. It discusses improvements to system management with Cockpit, changes to package management with Application Streams and Flatpak, updated container technologies including Podman and Buildah, and the ability to build custom RHEL images with Image Builder. The document also notes changes to networking with IPVLAN, storage with Stratis, and security with the new nftables firewall.

1. TECHNICAL INTRODUCTION TO RHEL 8
Antonio C. Vélez Báez
Cloud Security Consultant
OSCP, RHCE, RHCI, RHCX, RHCSA-RHOS, Linux+
August 30, 2019

2. AGENDA
• What’s new - Overview
• Where to get RHEL 8 ?
• System management with Cockpit
• What is new in package management ?
• Container technologies : Podman, Buildah and Skopeo
• Build your own RHEL images with Image Builder
• Centralized user session recording with System recorder (tlog)
• Networking changes
• Storage changes
• Security changes

3. :: WHAT’S NEW ?

4. WHAT’S NEW IN RHEL 8 ?
• Cockpit improvements
• YUM 4 , Application stream and Flatpak
• Python 3.6 (**note on Ansible, 2.8+)
• Kernel 4.18 (RHEL 7 : Kernel 3.10)
• 5-level page table (up to 4 PB ram)
• Networking changes
• Security Changes
• Nvdimm storage support
• Containers : Podman, Buildah and Skopeo
• Composer ( build custom RHEL images )
• System purpose ( record the intended use )
• Wayland ( xorg replacement )
• Stratis ( lvm replacement )
• Leapp ( release upgrade tool )
• New patches schedule
• And more ...

5. :: WHERE TO GET RHEL 8 ?

6. Customer portal:
• https://access.redhat.com/products/red-hat-enterprise-linux/
• ISO and KVM images
Developer program:
• https://developers.redhat.com/rhel8/
• VirtualBox image https://developers.redhat.com/rhel8/install-rhel8-
vbox/
Architectures available:
• x86_64
• ppc64le
• aarch64 (raspberry pi)
• S390x
DOWNLOAD RHEL 8

7. :: SYSTEM MANAGEMENT WITH
COCKPIT

8. COCKPIT
Cockpit is an interactive server admin interface (https://cockpit-project.org/)
• IDM - idm domain admin can manage Cockpit
• Manage remote server via dashboard
• New Subscription manager gui
• Manage users and groups
• Manage and configure networks
• Install and remove packages
• Tlog (session recorder) gui
• Composer - gui
• Virt manager replacement

9. :: WHAT IS NEW IN PACKAGE
MANAGEMENT ?

10. APPLICATION STREAM
Provides modularity to package
management
• RHEL 8 content is distributed through the two main repositories: BaseOS and Application
Stream (AppStream).
BaseOS
• The BaseOS repository provides the core set
of the underlying OS content in the form of
traditional RPM packages. Same lifecycle as
RHEL 7
Application Stream
• The Application Stream repository provides
content with varying life cycles as both modules
and traditional packages.

11. FLATPAK
Flatpak is a next-generation technology for building and distributing desktop
applications on Linux

12. :: BUILD YOUR OWN RHEL IMAGES
WITH IMAGE BUILDER

14. :: CONTAINER TECHNOLOGIES

20. :: BUILD YOUR OWN RHEL IMAGES
WITH IMAGE BUILDER

22. :: SYSTEM RECORDER - TLOG

24. :: NETWORKING CHANGES

26. IPVLAN
connects containers nested in virtual machines to networking hosts
• IPVLAN is a driver for a virtual network device that can be used in a
container environment to access the host network
• IPVLAN exposes a single MAC address to the external network,
regardless the number of IPVLAN devices inside the host network
• So even with multiple IPVLAN devices in multiple containers, the
local switch will see one single MAC address only.

27. :: STORAGE CHANGES

29. • Stratis is a new volume management file system that is faster and
easier to manage than its predecessors
• It is Red Hat’s answer to Btrfs, ZFS and LVM and enables advanced
storage features
• Thin provisioning
• Snapshosts
• Cache tire
• Programmatic API
• Monitoring and Repair
• Stratis is not a file system, it’s a solution that helps organizing
storage into pools from which multiple independent file systems
can be created
UNDERSTANDING STRATIS

30. :: SECURITY NFS TABLES

31. • nftables is the successor of iptables
• In RHEL 8, nftables is used as the back-end to firewalld
• Architecture is very similar to iptables syntax
Many improvements:
• Support for lookup tables, which means that rules no longer a scanned in a linear way
• Updates to chains are atomic and don't require a reload of the entire table
• Kernel can update applications about rule changes
• Using the "inet" protocol family, rules can be applied for IPv4 and IPv6 simultaneously
UNDERSTANDING NFTABLES

32. THANK YOU !
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