[pve-devel] Proxmox VE 8.1 released!

[Martin Maurer <martin@proxmox.com>]

We're very excited to announce the release 8.1 of Proxmox Virtual 
Environment! It's based on Debian 12.2 "Bookworm" but uses a newer Linux 
kernel 6.5, QEMU 8.1.2, and OpenZFS 2.2.0 ((with stable fixes backported)

Here is a selection of the highlights of Proxmox VE 8.1

- Debian 12.2 (“Bookworm”), but uses a newer Linux kernel 6.5 as stable 
default
- latest versions of QEMU 8.1.2 and ZFS 2.2.0 including the most 
important bugfixes from 2.2.1 already
- Software-defined Networking (SDN)
- Secure Boot
- New flexible notification system with matcher-based approach
- Ceph Server: Ceph Reef 18.2.0 is default, and Ceph Quincy 17.2.7 comes 
with continued support.
-Countless GUI and API improvements.

As always, we have included countless bugfixes and improvements on many 
places; see the release notes for all details.

Release notes
https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Roadmap

Press release
https://www.proxmox.com/en/news/press-releases/

Video tutorial
https://www.proxmox.com/en/training/video-tutorials/item/what-s-new-in-proxmox-ve-8-1

Download
https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads
Alternate ISO download:
https://enterprise.proxmox.com/iso

Documentation
https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs

Community Forum
https://forum.proxmox.com

Bugtracker
https://bugzilla.proxmox.com

Source code
https://git.proxmox.com

There has been a lot of feedback from our community members and 
customers, and many of you reported bugs, submitted patches and were 
involved in testing - THANK YOU for your support!

FAQ

Q: Can I upgrade latest Proxmox VE 7 to 8 with apt?
A: Yes, please follow the upgrade instructions on 
https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Upgrade_from_7_to_8

Q: Can I upgrade an 8.0 installation to the stable 8.1 via apt?
A: Yes, upgrading from is possible via apt and GUI.

Q: Can I install Proxmox VE 8.1 on top of Debian 12 "Bookworm"?
A: Yes, see 
https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_12_Bookworm

Q: Can I upgrade my Proxmox VE 7.4 cluster with Ceph Pacific to Proxmox 
VE 8.1 and to Ceph Reef?
A: This is a three-step process. First, you have to upgrade Ceph from 
Pacific to Quincy, and afterwards you can then upgrade Proxmox VE from 
7.4 to 8.1. As soon as you run Proxmox VE 8.1, you can upgrade Ceph to 
Reef. There are a lot of improvements and changes, so please follow 
exactly the upgrade documentation:
https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Ceph_Pacific_to_Quincy
https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Upgrade_from_7_to_8
https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Ceph_Quincy_to_Reef

Q: Where can I get more information about feature updates?
A: Check the roadmap, forum, the mailing list, and/or subscribe to our 
newsletter.

-- 
Best Regards,

Martin Maurer
Proxmox VE project leader