ePortal can now be hosted on Ubuntu

IT environments are different everywhere you look. No two companies have precisely the same needs or requirements, so it follows that no two companies will agree on -exactly- the same operating system fleet composition. 

Until recently, TuxCare’s ePortal management system for your KernelCare Enterprise systems was only officially supported on RHEL derivatives. There was actually no restriction on the protected systems, but the management solution was only deployable on CentOS, AlmaLinux, and the like – or inside a container, but that wasn’t an apples-to-apples comparison.

But, like everything in life, this has changed. Following a request from one of our partners who runs an all Ubuntu server fleet, we are now proud to announce that we’ve made the necessary changes, and now you can deploy ePortal straight into an Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa system. While, at face value, this may seem more symbolic than practical, it does facilitate overall management. Now you no longer need to maintain a system running a one-off operating system that you may not be familiar with or do not have the up-to-date tooling required to automate, deploy and manage. 

This makes it a very big deal, especially in very strict environments where any deviation from the norm can hugely impact operations.

To set it up, just follow these simple steps:

apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl ca-certificates
curl https://repo.cloudlinux.com/kernelcare/kernelcare.gpg -o /usr/share/keyrings/kcare-eportal.gpg
cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kcare-eportal.list <<EOL
deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/kcare-eportal.gpg] https://repo.cloudlinux.com/kcare-eportal/20.04 focal main
EOL

More than likely, you’ll already have curl and ca-certificates installed, so the first command is for completeness sake. The commands after that set up the correct repository.

After that, to actually install ePortal, simply run the following:

apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends kcare-eportal

This process is also documented here – any future changes will be reflected through this link to the TuxCare documentation. 

If you are running Ubuntu hosts and rely on containers for your ePortal deployment, then you can continue to do so, as it will still be supported going forward. 

Think of this new possibility as an additional option when deciding on your infrastructure plans.

As with other functionality that we have implemented over the past few months, we want to implement the features that simplify your operations and make patch management easier. Get in touch with us if you have anything that would make your ePortal management easier, faster, or improve integration with the rest of your environment. For more information about ePortal, KernelCare Enterprise and the rest of TuxCare’s patching solutions, look here.