Network Edition OS choices

[jw3193]

I'm in the process of testing ZCS NE, fairly close to a purchase in fact. I want to get the machine installed in preparation for this, so would like to make sure I install the "right" distro. I'm not opposed to Enterprise Linux, but I'd like to save money if possible. Does anyone know if NE will support a free distro in the future, like Fedora or even OpenSUSE? I know the RHEL version will run on FC, so is it just an issue of support from Zimbra if there's a problem? Any tips, experience, etc. is appreciated.

[phoenix]

Welcome to the forums.

The likelyhood of Zimbra being supported on operating systems that don't have vendor support is almost non-existent. You will not get support for anything that's not listed in the documentation, I'd suggest you stick with a supported operating system.

If your email is important enought to get the NE version then I'd recommend you get a supported operating system. Consider the fact that you might install Zimbra on a non-approved o/s and that you might find a problem with Zimbra - what happens to your valuable mail if you can't get it fixed?

[nicolas]

Hi!

Just would like to know exactly wich OS version is supported by Network Edition. Is Ubuntu Server 6.10 supported ?

And also why Fedora is not supported since it is essentially the same as RedHat Entreprise ?

Regards.

[phoenix]

The supported editions are the ones you can download a NE version for and are listed on the main Zimbra website. They are RHEL4, SLES9, MAC OS X and Ubuntu 6.x LTS, the reason there's no support for other operating systems is because we don't provide support for operating system problems. You get support for the o/s from the vendor or your support company.

[nicolas]

Just wondering,

If I decide to install on another OS, for example CentOS or Fedora Core, what will be the limitations of support provided by Zimbra ?
(of course if I buy the network edition)

Thanks for your reply.

[phoenix]

The limitations of support will be 'you get support from the forums' and not Zimbra support. It's not advisable to run Zimbra NE on platforms for which it was not built. With the exception of CentOS (which is a build of RHEL) you could have unpredictable results. So, just to summarise - no support for operating systems other than those listed.

If your business is worth trusting to Zimbra then it's worth investing in the Operating System support as well.

[Rich Graves]

Fedora is not the same as RedHat Enterprise -- often very significant differences in kernels, filesystems, init process, etc.

CentOS is a recompile from source and should (unlike Fedora) work exactly like RedHat Enterprise, with possible exception of clustering in a SAN environment (which is relevant to Zimbra if you want it to be) and commercial-ish value-add in the "Extras" channel (which isn't).

If you want some support but not the RHEL price tag, and don't mind getting flamed as a cheat by RedHat supporters, consider Oracle Linux, which is CentOS with a different logo.

Zimbra won't be obligated to support CentOS or Oracle Linux, and you certainly can't expect them to antagonize RedHat by saying they would, but there "should" be no difference between the rebuilds and RHEL.

[phoenix]

There are some minor differences in CentOS but nothing that can't be sorted out, a few missing libs that we need - it's been covered in the forums and wiki. There is also commercial support for CentOS as well.

[nicolas]

So if i resume, the officially supported Os are :

RHEL
Suse
OpenSuse
Ubuntu

and Centos ?

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by nicolas

So if i resume, the officially supported Os are :

RHEL
Suse
OpenSuse
Ubuntu

and Centos ?

No, that's not quite what I said. CentOS is not supported by Zimbra, I was making the point that it is similar to RHEL and would run Zimbra (I use it myself) but you won't get support for it. Likewise, openSuSE support will be removed soon which is why I didn't mention it.

Supported operating systems are: RHEL4, SLES9, MAC OS X and Ubuntu 6.x LTS Please note that the Ubuntu version is specifically the LTS. We do currently support openSuSE 10 (and only 10) but that will end in a few of months. That's the complete list, no additions or exceptions and specifically those versions I've mentioned. The list may change over time but that is the currently supported list for NE.