IPFire 2.29 - Core Update 199 is available for testing
IPFire 2.29 - Core Update 199 is now available for testing, bringing significant enhancements to the platform's networking capabilities.
This latest offering from the team behind IPFire brings some significant upgrades to how it handles your network right out of the box. It’s not just incremental; things feel a bit more connected and capable now.
For starters, wireless networking gets an upgrade with support for WiFi 7 alongside existing compatibility for WiFi 6. While hardware needed this before, the update itself means IPFire can fully leverage these newer capabilities, like automatically choosing the best mode or enabling supported features without you having to dig too deep into settings. This automatic setup helps ensure a smoother experience and generally faster performance on compatible gear.
But it's not just about Wi-Fi being shinier; there are other solid improvements here, especially around visibility and security basics built on Linux 6.12.58. Native LLDP/CDP integration is one thing, which means that IPFire can now see its directly connected network devices better and even figure out which specific switch ports they're plugged into through the web interface (under Services -> LLDP). This improvement is a definite step forward for understanding your complex network layout.
That kernel rebase forms the bedrock, providing essential security patches and stability fixes. Alongside that, some configuration tweaks related to preemption debugging aim to bring performance gains across various setups. And speaking of security, IPFire's core Intrusion Prevention System has gotten an update based on Suricata version 8.0.2. This refresh likely means faster alerts when something tries to slip through and better reporting down the line.
If you're already using IPFire for your business network, these changes probably don't need much explanation; they just make things work a little more reliably. There's also progress with OpenVPN: the Roadwarrior feature has been updated in preparation for future features, which includes warnings about older cipher types used by the server side and improved support for pushing multiple DNS or WINS settings to clients. Multi-home routing is handled correctly too, ensuring clients connect properly even if you have more than one network interface active.
Beyond these headline items, Core Update 199 packs quite a few other improvements and bug fixes. Think about things like better error messages when hardware issues arise; that’s the kind of detail tech users appreciate. The D-Bus system runs by default now (a change geared towards future compatibility), and system boot management has switched from dracut to its improved successor, draceng.
And then there's the package update part, which is always a positive sign for longevity and reliability. The developers upgraded everything from core utilities like coreutils or vim and standard tools like BIND (DNS server) and OpenSSH to key components such as Suricata again (for IDS/IPS), strongSwan (VPN), LVM2, and even updated PCRE.
Plus, there are a bunch of smaller code cleanups and the inclusion of some neat add-ons. One notable example is arpwatch, now equipped with corrected email notification details for better integration with your monitoring systems. The ffmpeg package has seen its refresh to version 8.0, likely paving the way for more secure streaming options, including HTTPS sources.
If you're following along with other packages in the IPFire ecosystem like ClamAV (the anti-virus), Samba (file sharing), or Tor, they also get updated here. It’s a lot of moving parts working together smoother than ever before.
The new version is available to download from here.
