CentOS-5.4 for i386 and x86_64 Architectures has been released:

CentOS-5.4 is based on the upstream release EL 5.4.0, and includes packages from all variants including Server and Client. All upstream repositories have been combined into one, to make it easier for end users to work with. And the option to further enable external repositories at install time is now available in the installer.

This is just an announcement email, not the release notes. The Release Notes for CentOS-5.4 can be found on-line at : http://wiki.centos.org/Manuals/ReleaseNotes/CentOS5.4 and everyone is encouraged to look through them once. Also worth browsing through at the CentOS FAQ's at http://wiki.centos.org/FAQ

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Upgrading from CentOS-5.3 ( or CentOS-5.0 / 5.1 / 5.2 ):

If you are already running CentOS-5.3 or an older CentOS-5 distro, all you need to do is update your machine via yum by running :

'yum update'

Running 'yum list updates' before doing the update is recommended, so you can get a list of packages that are going to be updated. To check you are indeed on CentOS-5.4, run : 'rpm -q centos-release' and that should return: 'centos-release-5-4.el5.centos.1'


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LiveCD i386

For the first time, we are also releasing the i386 CentOS-5.4 LiveCD at the same time as the main distro. There will be a separate announcement with details of changes in the 5.4 LiveCD

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LiveCD x86_64

Also for the first time, we now have a x86_64 CentOS LiveCD. This release includes support for both 64bit and 32bit user-space. However, due to size issues will only burn to a large capacity CD-r. There will be a separate announcement with details for the x86_64 LiveCD.

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Downloading CentOS-5.4 for new installs:

When possible, consider using torrents to run the downloads. Not only does it help the community and keeps mirrors from running up high bandwidth bills, in most cases you will find its also the fastest means to download the distro. There are present over three hundred people seeding CentOS-5 and its possible to get upto 100mbps downloads via these torrents.

-- Via BitTorrent :
CD:
http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5.4/isos/i386/CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-1to6.torrent
http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5.4/isos/x86_64/CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-1to7.torrent

DVD:
http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5.4/isos/i386/CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-DVD.torrent
http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5.4/isos/x86_64/CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-DVD.torrent

sha1sum for these torrent files:

a5ad269539be62873704ef916d4390ea4fc04b3f CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-1to6.torrent
44df26957569f272cd93c7cebeae7cb5e4ba056c CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-DVD.torrent
3c3ca34a47be07a91abf0264fc78b1ce68c18de6 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-1to7.torrent
724b00c12baf09afc86d94ca8519a151b5cae850 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-DVD.torrent

-- Via direct download:
Due to bandwidth considerations the CentOS Project does not publish ISOS directly from our network machines. However direct downloads are available from external mirrors over http, ftp and rsync, and a geoip based list is available at http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/5/isos/ to give you the best predictable match ( and only lists mirrors that are updated already, so you don't need to waste time looking for a sync'd mirror )

Some mirrors also publish DVD images that can be downloaded directly. Refer to the mirrors list page at http://www.centos.org/mirrors for more details Mirrors that offer DVD's are clearly marked on the page.

sha1sum for these ISOS:

i386:
2c3e2d6ca38e3549d47d5f74529193ed68d838cc CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-1of6.iso
9f8b829bd7d39dec4c25d3f7815391323ea462d4 CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-2of6.iso
aa9db29f2524894599a5d948b58593782da9adcc CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-3of6.iso
44d72f7b9f889e0278a1718061606b48d10975bf CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-4of6.iso
88ff6bd1abe194dc4b2d77d779dac28d914276bf CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-5of6.iso
0dd39bd0ca1420b78be630f2a1d0fa7301e00db4 CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-6of6.iso
d2b36d3f017b2684ac920fab87aaf741bba16ca8 CentOS-5.4-i386-bin-DVD.iso
f52e34da5570fd4eec0f3688c6f03c7686e8ad08 CentOS-5.4-i386-LiveCD.iso
94ddb89f24be9330efc2595a1ba76c4ce9aea22f CentOS-5.4-i386-netinstall.iso


x86_64:
2a283f28adea32481b057bec0fcabba37b4e2d75 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-1of7.iso
aa5b7a5a03746024555a8aa4c17cdb1e51798480 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-2of7.iso
ab7c6e8ad67f426cfb046478f1669b3f8c925433 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-3of7.iso
02e411338b6c693e483b152f72fe93fddfb9588e CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-4of7.iso
a91ecff0ebb6e216ac96887e6e325f9c7b7eef32 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-5of7.iso
9ab5f1d20cd81c3ebdc6a22d22e9dc7111646199 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-6of7.iso
3b00f16ed097f2bd189395edde6834e33f73cdb4 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-7of7.iso
9069eadfc3a8727ed7abe472effae5b9bbbda8a1 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-bin-DVD.iso
da508b248ab2d18deb42e2ec0ec7061b1fbf4568 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-LiveCD.iso
98287aff19e8e4b4d19c5d714cc189fe08f38521 CentOS-5.4-x86_64-netinstall.iso


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Outstanding Updates:

Since upstream released their 5.4 media, a series of updates have been issued. All these pending updates for CentOS-5.4 will be released over the next 48 to 96 hours to be complete by Monday, 26th Oct 2009.

Starting with 5.4, we will also have all fast-track rpms from upstream available in the fasttrack repository hosted at mirror.centos.org. This will start getting packages in the next few weeks, and also means that we will be able to move towards having a functional yum-security setup in place. Details on these will be posted by the 15th of Nov 2009.

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Sources and Debuginfo packages:

srpms and debuginfo packages are still making their way to the centos mirrors and should be online within the next few days. Most sources are already in place, while the debuginfos are only stating to get uploaded now.

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Getting Help:

The best place to start when looking for help with CentOS is at the wiki ( http://wiki.centos.org/GettingHelp ) which lists various options and communities who might be able to help. If you think there is a bug in the system, do report it at http://bugs.centos.org/ - but keep in mind that the bugs system is *not* a support mechanism.

Some Friendly URL's :
http://www.centos.org/
http://wiki.centos.org/
http://lists.centos.org/
http://bugs.centos.org/
irc://#centos@irc.freenode.net


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A big thanks to everyone who contributed, including the translation teams, the qa team, the artwork team, the CentOS Developers and all the users out there.

Enjoy this release, tell all your friends about it too!


--
Karanbir Singh
CentOS Project