ClearOS
Linux distribution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ClearOS (also known as the ClearOS System, formerly ClarkConnect[4]) was a Linux distribution by ClearFoundation, with network gateway, file, print, mail, and messaging services.
| ClearCenter | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer | ClearCenter |
| OS family | Linux (Unix-like) |
| Working state | stale |
| Source model | Open source[1] |
| Initial release | 2001[2] |
| Latest release | 7.8[3] / 23 June 2020 |
| Kernel type | Monolithic kernel (Linux) |
| Default user interface | Web user interface |
| License | GPL, and others |
| Official website | clearos |
History
ClearOS is based on CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux,[5] designed for use in small and medium enterprises as a network gateway and network server with a web-based administration interface.[6] It is positioned as an alternative to Windows Small Business Server.[7] ClearOS is the successor to ClarkConnect. The software is built by ClearFoundation, and support services can be purchased from ClearCenter.[8] ClearOS 5.1 removes previous limitations to mail, DMZ, and MultiWAN functions.[9]
As of the ClearOS 6.1 release, the distribution is a full-featured operating system for gateway, network and servers built from source packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.[10][11][12]
ClearOS aimed to replace, as a small business server, Windows SBS.[13]
The last release of ClearOS was in 2020, and with no updates since then, the project appears to be discontinued.[14]
You can still download the distribution from their site and the version is listed as ClearOS-7.9.1.342252. But that release is from October 13, 2021 and is not maintained anymore.
Features
Features include:[13]
- Stateful firewall (iptables), networking and security
- Intrusion detection and prevention system (SNORT)
- Virtual private networking (IPsec, PPTP, OpenVPN)
- Web proxy, with content filtering and antivirus (Squid, DansGuardian)
- E-mail services (Webmail, Postfix, SMTP, POP3/s, IMAP/s)
- Groupware (Kolab)
- Database and web server (easy to deploy LAMP stack)
- File and print services (Samba and CUPS)
- Flexshares (unified multi-protocol storage which currently employs SMB, HTTP/S, FTP/S, and SMTP)
- MultiWAN (Internet fault tolerant design)
- Built-in reports for system statistics and services (MRTG and others)
Awards and recognition
- August 2009: CompTIA Breakaway — ClearCenter's ClearOS wins 'Best New Product' at CompTIA Breakaway.[15]
- August 2010: CompTIA Breakaway — ClearCenter's ClearOS repeats win for 'Best New Product' at CompTIA Breakaway.[16]
- July 2012: Softpedia — An Open Source, free and powerful network and gateway Linux server operating system[17]
- February 2014: IDG Security Firewall Distributions Review[18]
- June 2015: Small Business Computing — The 5 Best Linux Servers for Small Business[19]
- September 2015: LinuxVoice Service Distro — Group Test (see pages 58-63)[20]
