[Users] OpenVZ 8.0 - Alpha Release

[Maik Broemme]

Hi,

I'm pleased to announce the release of OpenVZ 8.0 Alpha Release. The new
release focuses on rebasing OpenVZ to the latest Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 8.4 with 4.18.0-x kernel.

This version is not ready for production use. While we don't intend to
release broken builds, these releases are very early in development, and
not supported for production use, as they may contain errors, and any
resulting instability could cause crashes or data loss, so you should
not deploy this to a production environment. Instead, please try out the
builds in a lab or test environment.

New Features
============

* Simplified installation program.

* The dispatcher component is now optional and not installed by default
  as are the 'prl*' tools like 'prlctl'. The primary API for managing
  virtual environments is now libvirt. The tools for managing virtual
  environments are now 'virsh' and 'virt-install'. The Parallels SDK as
  well as the 'prl*' tools can be installed for backward compatibility.

* Supported guest operating systems for creating new containers and
  virtual machines are: VzLinux 7 and 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and
  8, CentOS 7, AlmaLinux 8, Debian 10, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and 20.04 LTS,
  SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 and 15. Additionally, these guest
  operating systems are supported in virtual machines only: Windows
  Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022. Migrated
  containers and virtual machines with older guest operating systems
  should continue to work.

* OpenVZ 8.0 Alpha is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 as well as
  the 4.18.0-x kernels.

* Libvirt storage pools and volumes can be used.

* Problem reports can be collected and sent using the 'vzreport' tool.

* The 'ip_conntrack_disable_ve0' option of the nf_conntrack kernel
  module has been dropped. Connection tracking is now enabled
  automatically if required by iptables rules. Otherwise, it remains
  disabled.

Known Issues
============

* Resizing container disks may fail

* Microsoft Windows virtual machines created on this alpha build may not
  work

* Virtual machine snapshots may not work

* Network interface hotplugging may not work

Download
========

All binary components as well as installation ISO images are freely
available at the OpenVZ download server:

https://download.openvz.org/virtuozzo/releases/8.0/
https://download.openvz.org/virtuozzo/releases/8.0/x86_64/iso/openvz-iso-8.0.0-1336.iso

and mirrors:

https://mirrors.openvz.org/

The source code of each component is available in the public repository:

https://src.openvz.org/projects/OVZ

Feedback
========

Each release includes one or more changes and therefore we are looking to our
user base in testing the new features and improvements of upcoming major
release and providing valued feedback.

This allows critical issues or fixes to be addressed, please provide Alpha
feedback to OpenVZ users mailing list users at openvz.org or submitting a
bug in case of a serious issue to https://bugs.openvz.org/

Sincerely,
Maik