iXsystems Releases PC-BSD 9.1 Isotope Edition

iXsystems, Inc. announced the PC-BSD 9.1 Isotope Edition, the latest release of the secure and user-friendly OS based on FreeBSD 9.1.

Several new components are introduced in PC-BSD 9.1 Isotope including a revamped Warden jail management tool, improved ZFS support, user interface enhancements, and the new server edition of PC-BSD named TrueOS.

The biggest change to come from this update is a complete overhaul of PC-BSD’s Warden jail management utility with support for multiple ports jails, meta-packages, Linux jails, and ZFS snapshot management. Advanced users can now enjoy unlimited FreeBSD ports sandboxes thanks to the integration of the Ports Jail utility with the Warden UI.

In addition, the integration of the update manager into Warden and support for meta-packages allow users to install the complex programs available on the PC-BSD installation media, e.g., Samba and Apache, in jails. The ability to install Linux distributions, including Debian and Gentoo, in jails opens up new options for virtualization on PC-BSD. All of these functions are available from both the graphical and command line interfaces.

PC-BSD 9.1 improves ZFS support in the installer and throughout the system, adding new features. The installer simplifies the task of disk layout, including support for ZFS mirror and up to triple-parity software RAID. ZFS users can now use the ‘beadm’ utility to backup the boot environment before an upgrade or major system change and restore it if necessary. In Warden on ZFS, entire jails (including Linux jails) may be cloned and rolled back. These administrative tools help PC-BSD live up to its reputation as a powerful and versatile desktop OS.

"PC-BSD has made stunning progress and is rapidly becoming the Unix workstation OS we have all been waiting for," says Michael Dexter, the editor of CallForTesting.org and a long-time BSD lecturer and advocate. "From including ZFS and elegant management tools to being completely GUI-agnostic, PC-BSD embraces and extends FreeBSD in dramatic yet respectful ways and the result is a great desktop experience for not only end users but also administrators and developers."

Several other improvements continue to ensure that PC-BSD 9.1 remains user-friendly and accessible to everyone. Set-up is easier with the new installer that requires four clicks for the default installation. The installer also separates pre-installation and post-installation tasks, allowing OEMs to install the system and leaving final configuration to the end user. An ‘About’ icon has been added to the control panel to determine the PC-BSD version and which desktops and version of X Window System have been installed. The new release supports KDE 4.9.3 and improves support for wifi and Intel video.

One of PC-BSD 9.1’s new features is the server installation option. The regular installer now presents the option to install TrueOS, a custom server edition of PC-BSD. It provides command line versions of PC-BSD utilities (including Warden, Meta-package Manager, and PBI Manager tools) in addition to the base FreeBSD install. It’s a choice for users who want to avoid the overhead of even the lightest-weight window manager but want to take advantage of the powerful tools available in PC-BSD. iXsystems offers Professional Software Support for TrueOS and PC-BSD.

"With the new TrueOS server option, system administrators and enterprise users of Linux will immediately feel more at home being able to install a system with packages such as Bash, Apache, or Samba available out of box," says Kris Moore, founder and lead developer of the PC-BSD project. "This, coupled with command-line versions of the ‘Warden’ jail management tool, meta-package manager, update manager and others, makes running a BSD-based server easier than ever."

More on PC-BSD or to download the new PC-BSD 9.1

PC-BSD is also available for retail sale in DVD form.

About PC-BSD
PC-BSD is a functional, user-friendly desktop OS based on FreeBSD. It runs on the latest FreeBSD version 9.1 with a desktop interface of the user’s choice and graphical system installer. Its PBI system, developed for PC-BSD and also available on FreeBSD, allows users to download and install their applications in a self-extracting and self-installing format.