What is new in this release of Liberty

This release introduces key enhancements to Liberty.

Multimedia Watch: The Liberty single-stream fix pack delivery video shows how Liberty fix packs are continuously delivered into a single service stream that applies to all product versions. [Transcript]

What's new

The Liberty features topic lists the features available in Liberty products and highlights recently introduced features with a fix pack icon. Recent fix packs provide the following key enhancements:

[17.0.0.1 and later]
[16.0.0.4 and later]
[16.0.0.3 and later]

Continuous fix pack delivery

WebSphere Application Server Liberty follows a continuous delivery process. Instead of delivering a large amount of content in a new version, new content is delivered gradually as optional installable features on top of each fix pack. Because of the Liberty zero-migration policy, you can update to the latest fix pack and then continue to use your existing configuration and applications, with no unexpected change in behavior.

In contrast to WebSphere Application Server traditional, which has different fix packs for each version, Liberty has a single service stream. A Liberty fix pack contains the same content regardless of which product version you purchased. Fix pack 16.0.0.2 is the next Liberty fix pack after 8.5.5.9.

A diagram that shows a single line of fix packs that apply to both V8.5.5 and V9.0

For more information about installing Liberty 16.0.0.2, see Installing Liberty. For information about installing previous 8.5.5.x fix packs, see Installing Liberty in the WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5 documentation.

Fix pack numbering

Beginning with fix pack 16.0.0.2, WebSphere Application Server Liberty fix packs use the following numbering scheme:

Y.R.M.F

where
  • Y = year, last 2 digits
  • R = release
  • M = modification
  • F = fix pack release during the year

For example, fix pack 16.0.0.2 refers to year 2016, release 0, modification 0, and the second fix pack of the year. For the third fix pack of 2018, the fix name would be 18.0.0.3.

This numbering change applies only to Liberty. WebSphere Application Server traditional fix packs continue to follow the V.R.M.F numbering scheme, where the letters stand for version, release, modification, and fix pack.

All features are installed by default

When you install fix pack 16.0.0.2 and later, all features that apply to your Liberty edition are installed by default. When you install Liberty by using Installation Manager, you no longer need to specify the user.feature or user.addon parameters. Specifying these parameters installs only the features that you list on the parameters. When you update existing installations to 16.0.0.2 or later, the extra features not automatically installed. To install more Liberty assets, use the installUtility command. For more information, see Installing assets using the installUtility command.

You can remove unwanted or unneeded Liberty features by using the Liberty installUtility command or the minify process.

If you use Installation Manager, Version 1.8.5 or later is required

To install or update to fix pack 16.0.0.2 or later by using Installation Manager, you must use Installation Manager 1.8.5 or later. For example, if you are updating from fix pack 8.5.5.9 and are currently using Installation Manager 1.8.3, you must first update Installation Manager before you can update Liberty.

For more information about installing Liberty by using Installation Manager, see Installing Liberty using Installation Manager.

Common IBM Java SDKs

Common IBM Java SDKs for Java 8 and Java 7.1 that are not modified for WebSphere Application Server are now available for Liberty. Because these IBM Java SDK offerings do not follow the WebSphere fix pack schedule, you can receive Java security updates faster, as they become available.

For more information about installing the IBM Java SDKs by using Installation Manager, see Installing, updating, and uninstalling IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition or Installing IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition on z/OS.


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