We are pleased to announce Synex Server 13 R6. This version consolidates package updates and minor adjustments to the system's own tools, maintaining the stable and predictable base that characterizes the Server branch.
Updates in this version
synex-installer advances to version 2.6.1 with corrections and minor adjustments over the 2.6.0 base, maintaining complete support for ZFS, BTRFS, ext4, and XFS with their respective encryption options and topologies.
synex-repo-manager advances to version 1.0.3 with minor improvements that allow its use not only on Debian systems, but also on any derivative.
The rest of the Server ecosystem remains in its current versions: synex-control 1.2.2, synex-boot-redundancy 1.1.0, and ServerHub 1.3.0 with its set of modules (Docker, FreeIPA, GLPI, LAMP, Nextcloud, Nginx Proxy Manager, Odoo, and Zabbix).
System updates
This version includes all cumulative package updates available in Debian Trixie repositories up to the build date. Critical security patches for server environments are incorporated, along with the optimized kernel for the amd64 architecture. Main components include Linux kernel 6.12.90, systemd 257.13, OpenSSL 3.5.6, and ZFS 2.3.2.
What we are working on
Beyond maintenance, we want to share the lines of work we are defining for the upcoming versions of Synex Server.
Advanced ZFS features in synex-installer
We are defining the guidelines to incorporate more advanced ZFS configurations in synex-installer, aimed at covering the complete spectrum of enterprise scenarios. Among the functionalities under evaluation are combined multi-VDEV pools (striped mirrors and striped RAIDZ, which improve IOPS and throughput by distributing disks into groups), special vdevs for hybrid configurations (metadata on SSD, data on HDD), and dRAID for large-scale pools where resilvering times are critical.
This work is approached with judgment: each functionality is incorporated once its real use context and fundamentals are understood, not simply to add options. The goal is for synex-installer to cover even the most complex enterprise storage cases, consolidating Synex Server as a serious alternative in environments where these capabilities are required.
Improvements in synex-repo-manager
We are also working on expanding synex-repo-manager to support a broader spectrum of third-party repositories. Currently the tool manages GPG keys in ASCII format and keys that require conversion through gpg --dearmor, but some providers distribute binary keyrings that are already prepared, ready to copy to the system without intermediate transformation. The addition of support for this mode will allow incorporating repositories that today fall outside the catalog due to this technical limitation, expanding the options available to the administrator.
Availability
Synex Server 13 R6 is available for immediate download. As always, we recommend verifying the checksums of downloaded images before creating the installation media.
Download Synex Server 13 R6 from here.