Oracle Linux 7 Update 3 for x86-64 servers is now generally available, according to Teri Whitaker, program manager at Oracle, who announced the release in a post on Oracle’s Linux blog.
According to Whitaker's blog entry, users with a support subscription can download ISOs from My Oracle Support, ISO installation images can be downloaded from Oracle Software Delivery Cloud, and individual RPM packages for Oracle Linux 7 Update 3 are available on the public yum server and the Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN).
“This is the first Oracle Linux 7 ISO to include UEK Release 4 (UEK R4),” wrote Whitaker. “Please note that new installations of Oracle Linux 7 Update 3 will install and boot the UEK R4 kernel by default. However, updates to existing Oracle Linux 7 environments require the user to explicitly install UEK R4 and will not automatically replace existing UEK R3 kernels. The Oracle Linux 7 Update 3 ISO includes and installs two sets of kernel packages: Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) and Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK). The installation process configures the system to boot with UEK as the default kernel, and configures RHCK as an alternate kernel."
The Oracle Linux 7 Update 3 ISO contains the kernel packages kernel-uek-4.1.12-61.1.18.el7uek (UEK R4u2 +errata) and kernel-3.10.0-514.el7. Oracle Linux 7 Update 3 continues to support, but does not ship with, the latest UEK R3u7 and later.
Oracle Linux can be downloaded, used and distributed free of charge and all updates and errata are freely available, with optional support available by subscription.