CentOS-5.3 for i386 and x86_64 has been released

We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of CentOS-5.3 for the i386 and x86_64 Architectures.

CentOS-5.3 is based on the upstream release EL 5.3.0, 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-5.3 can be found on-line at :
http://wiki.centos.org/Manuals/ReleaseNotes/CentOS5.3 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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ArtWork update:

CentOS-5.3 brings in a completely new artwork stack. A big thanks to Alain Reguera Delgado, Ralph Angenendt, Marcus Moeller and everyone on the Artwork SIG for bringing us the best, most comprehensive artwork set yet. Also a big thanks to all the translation teams for their contributions to the installer artwork.


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Contrib repos are back:

Given the widespread requests for user contributed packages directly being hosted within the centos repositories, the contribs repository is now back with CentOS-5.3. There are no packages yet, but over the next few weeks we hope to have a policy and process in place that allows users to submit and manage packages in the contrib repo.

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

If you are already running CentOS-5.2 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-5.3, run : 'rpm -q centos-release' and that should return: 'centos-release-5-3.el5.centos.1'


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Upgrading from CentOS-2.1 or CentOS-3.x or CentOS-4.x:

The only recommended way to update from an earlier version of CentOS ( Version lt; 5 ) is to download and run a fresh install. In some cases, running the installer with the 'upgradeany' option might also achieve the desired results, however you are strongly recommended to look at the CentOS Wiki where hints and notes about potential upgrade paths from CentOS-4/3/2.1 to CentOS-5 are provided.


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Downloading CentOS-5.3 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 bandiwdth bills, in most cases you will find its also the fastest means to download the distro. There are present over a thousand people already seeding CentOS-5.3 and its possible to get upto 100mbps downloads via these torrents.

-- Via BitTorrent :
CD:
http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5.3/isos/i386/CentOS-5.3-i386-bin-1to6.torrent
http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5.3/isos/x86_64/CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-1to7.torrent

DVD:
http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5.3/isos/i386/CentOS-5.3-i386-bin-DVD.torrent
http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5.3/isos/x86_64/CentOS-5.3-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 dont 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:
4b454d76d06daa0b1772115e9b95c9465a4cecb0 CentOS-5.3-i386-bin-1of6.iso
0da3292ea1d90639714a5e7d77812568bc01ec05 CentOS-5.3-i386-bin-2of6.iso
77e867eb736b58f31cdd25c4835643ab795979e2 CentOS-5.3-i386-bin-3of6.iso
949ee93440e736c8414fb8b571178970a31e6675 CentOS-5.3-i386-bin-4of6.iso
5eafdea33c18f623bb9299ae624b8c8a12132bfa CentOS-5.3-i386-bin-5of6.iso
90ae5387a38f8ec805d877cc5525ae8dedc7f810 CentOS-5.3-i386-bin-6of6.iso
b7f85a3a493e3051e50515ef881214929c88a5f3 CentOS-5.3-i386-bin-DVD.iso
a0c640ae0c68cc0d9558cf4f8855f24671b3dadb CentOS-5.3-i386-netinstall.iso

x86_64:
7327174dc0cbb6531bc0e2f26e24788251717e91 CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-1of7.iso
d060ed2826a4c212eebf5e3a825ce75e77cb44e0 CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-2of7.iso
a0b7471ec6b742c962cc06b69624b0746025005f CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-3of7.iso
fe4106322d6b08344e82df8904142664a8a82522 CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-4of7.iso
8cb5539fa4241bc5d23798a3e2721b2ebd3b18fe CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-5of7.iso
8a8f32888279f701e15162dec6f52b5f5fb5effc CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-6of7.iso
f053b05ea8576ea7d72116fa246f914086238ca9 CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-7of7.iso
f8ca12b4acc714f4e4a21f3f35af083952ab46e0 CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-DVD.iso
e971bd1677622708348b8a65264ec360a1cc0196 CentOS-5.3-x86_64-netinstall.iso

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Pending CentOS-5.3 Updates and src.rpm's

Updates have been issues from upstream since they released 5.3, a bulk of these updates are already released into CentOS-5.3 and are available immediately. All pending updates will be released within the next 48 hrs. To keep the initial release size smaller, the src.rpm's are also going to be slowly released into the mirrors over the next 48 hrs along with debuginfo packages.


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Release Notes:

The distro release notes are only available online at http://wiki.centos.org/Manuals/ReleaseNotes/CentOS5.3 The release notes include important changelog info as well as notes about the installer and outcomes from test situations which the centos-qa team worked through. Its considered essential reading.

Upstream release notes are available in the NOTES/ directory of the install media. These include release specific technologies, new features in the distro and other misc infomation that can help you better utilise the distro.

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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 CentOS Developers and all the users out there. I would also like to thank all the users for their patience and help!

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


--
Karanbir Singh