oVirt 4.5.7 Emerges After Two-Year Hiatus: Community-Driven Update Adds Modern OS and CPU Support

The oVirt project has released version 4.5.7, its first major update in over two years, signaling a renewed commitment from the open-source community to maintain the platform. This release is particularly significant because it arrives after Red Hat shifted its focus away from oVirt, moving its Red Hat Virtualization product into maintenance mode to prioritize the Red Hat OpenShift platform.

Community Stewardship and Project Context

oVirt serves as the upstream open-source project for Red Hat Virtualization, providing a comprehensive management platform for virtualized data centers. When Red Hat reduced its direct contributions, the project's continuation depended entirely on community maintainers. This 4.5.7 release demonstrates that the community has successfully navigated the transition, delivering tangible improvements despite the reduced corporate backing.

The two-year gap between releases highlights the challenges of maintaining a complex enterprise-grade virtualization platform without dedicated engineering resources. However, it also showcases the resilience of open-source projects when users and contributors step up to fill the void.

Modern Operating System Support

The most immediate practical benefit for administrators is the addition of support for two modern Linux distributions:

• CentOS 10: The latest iteration of the community enterprise operating system, which continues to provide a free, binary-compatible alternative to Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• AlmaLinux 10: A community-driven, 1:1 binary compatible fork of RHEL that gained prominence after the CentOS shift to CentOS Stream

This support is crucial for organizations running oVirt in production environments. Without updated OS support, administrators face difficult choices between running outdated operating systems or migrating to alternative platforms. The addition of both CentOS 10 and AlmaLinux 10 provides flexibility, allowing users to choose based on their specific requirements and organizational preferences.

Expanded CPU Compatibility

The hardware support updates in oVirt 4.5.7 are substantial, covering recent generations of server processors:

CPU Family	Specific Models	Release Era
AMD EPYC	Milan, Rome, Genoa	2021-2023
Intel Xeon	Sapphire Rapids	2023
IBM POWER	POWER10	2021

While these aren't the absolute latest processors available today (AMD's Turin and Intel's Granite Rapids have since launched), they represent the most recent generations that were mainstream when the release was being developed. For most enterprise deployments, this support covers the vast majority of current hardware in the field.

The inclusion of IBM POWER10 support is particularly noteworthy, as it maintains oVirt's relevance for organizations running POWER-based infrastructure alongside x86 systems. This heterogeneous environment support is a key differentiator for oVirt compared to some competing platforms.

Critical Security Fix

The release addresses CVE-2024-7259, a significant security vulnerability that allowed users with administrative privileges to view provider passwords in clear text using browser developer tools. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in multi-tenant environments where administrative access might be granted to different teams or contractors.

The fix demonstrates the importance of regular security audits in management platforms, especially those handling sensitive infrastructure credentials. While the vulnerability required admin privileges to exploit, it highlights how seemingly minor implementation details can create substantial security risks in complex web applications.

Technical Modernization

Beyond the headline features, oVirt 4.5.7 includes several important technical improvements:

• Java 21 Build: All Java code is now compiled against Java 21, bringing the platform to the latest long-term support release. This provides access to modern language features, performance improvements, and security updates.
• Faster Host Reconnection: The platform now reconnects to hosts more quickly after reboot, reducing downtime during maintenance windows and improving overall operational efficiency.
• Various New Features: The release includes additional enhancements across the platform, though specific details would require reviewing the full changelog on the project's website.

Build Recommendations and Deployment Considerations

For organizations considering oVirt 4.5.7, several factors should influence the deployment strategy:

For New Deployments: The updated OS and CPU support makes this release suitable for greenfield deployments on modern hardware. The Java 21 foundation ensures better long-term maintainability.

For Existing oVirt Users: The two-year gap means many installations may be running significantly older versions. The upgrade path should be carefully planned, with particular attention to:

• Testing the reconnection improvements in your specific environment
• Verifying compatibility with existing storage and networking configurations
• Planning for the Java 21 transition, which may affect custom plugins or integrations

For Homelab Environments: The community-driven nature of oVirt makes it an excellent choice for homelab builders who want to experiment with enterprise-grade virtualization management. The support for modern CPUs means even recent consumer hardware (like AMD Ryzen or Intel Core processors) will be well-supported.

Performance Considerations

While specific benchmark data for this release isn't provided in the announcement, the Java 21 update typically brings measurable performance improvements:

• Memory Efficiency: Java 21's generational ZGC can provide better memory utilization in management platforms
• Startup Time: The faster host reconnection suggests underlying improvements in the platform's connection management
• Security: Java 21 includes numerous security patches that accumulate over time

For production environments, it's recommended to benchmark the new release against your specific workload patterns before full deployment. The management overhead of oVirt itself is relatively low compared to the virtualization workload it manages, but any changes to the Java runtime can affect the platform's responsiveness under load.

Future Outlook

This release raises questions about oVirt's long-term trajectory. The community has demonstrated it can deliver meaningful updates, but the two-year gap suggests the project operates with limited resources. Organizations with long-term virtualization strategies should consider:

• The project's governance model and contributor base
• Compatibility with emerging hardware and software trends
• Integration with modern container orchestration platforms

The oVirt project website provides download links and detailed release notes for those interested in exploring the platform further. For homelab enthusiasts and small-to-medium businesses, oVirt remains a compelling open-source alternative to commercial virtualization management platforms, offering enterprise features without licensing costs.

The success of this community-driven release may encourage more contributions and potentially accelerate future development cycles, making oVirt worth monitoring for anyone invested in open-source virtualization technologies.