CentOS announce - Apr 2009 - Release for CentOS-5.3 i386 and x86_64

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

+++++++++++++++++++++++
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.


+++++++++++++++++++++++
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.

+++++++++++++++++++++++
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'


+++++++++++++++++++++++
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 < 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.


+++++++++++++++++++++++
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

+++++++++++++++++++++++
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.


+++++++++++++++++++++++
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.

+++++++++++++++++++++++
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 at irc.freenode.net


+++++++++++++++++++++++
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
CentOS Project { http://www.centos.org/ }
irc: z00dax, #centos at irc.freenode.net