---
title: "FreeBSD 7.2-RELEASE Release Notes"
sidenav: download
---

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  <h2>Release Highlights</h2>

  <p>The highlights in the 7.2-RELEASE are the following:</p>

  <ul>
    <li><p>[amd64, i386] The FreeBSD virtual memory subsystem now
	supports fully transparent use of <b class="APPLICATION">superpages</b> for application memory;
	application memory pages are dynamically promoted to or
	demoted from superpages without any modification to
	application code. This change offers the benefit of large page
	sizes such as improved virtual memory efficiency and reduced
	TLB (translation lookaside buffer) misses without downsides
	like application changes and virtual memory
	inflexibility. This is disabled by default and can be enabled
	by setting a loader tunable <code class="VARNAME">vm.pmap.pg_ps_enabled</code> to <tt class="LITERAL">1</tt>.</p></li>

    <li><p>[amd64] The FreeBSD kernel virtual address space has been
	increased to 6GB. This allows subsystems to use larger virtual
	memory space than before. For example, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=zfs&amp;sektion=8&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	<span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">zfs</span>(8)</span></a> adaptive
	replacement cache (ARC) requires large kernel memory space to
	cache file system data, so it benefits from the increased
	address space. Note that the ceiling on the kernel map size is
	now 60% of the size rather than an absolute quantity.</p></li>

    <li><p>[sparc64] The FreeBSD now supports Ultra SPARC III
	(Cheetah) processor family.</p></li>

    <li><p>[i386] The <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=boot&amp;sektion=8&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">boot</span>(8)</span></a> BTX loader
	  has been improved. This fixes several boot issues on recent
	  machines reported for 7.1-RELEASE and before.</p></li>

    <li><p>A bug in the <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=ciss&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">ciss</span>(4)</span></a> driver which
	caused low &#8220;max device openings&#8221; count and led
	to poor performance has been fixed.</p></li>

    <li><p>The <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sdhci&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">sdhci</span>(4)</span></a> driver has
	been added. This supports PCI devices with class 8 and
	subclass 5 according to the SD Host Controller
	Specification.</p></li>

    <li><p>Various network interface drivers have been improved,
	including <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=ae&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect"><span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">ae</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=ath_hal&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">ath_hal</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=axe&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">axe</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=bce&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">bce</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=cxgb&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">cxgb</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=fxp&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">fxp</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=igb&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">igb</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=jme&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">jme</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=msk&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">msk</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=mxge&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">mxge</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=nfe&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">nfe</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=re&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect"><span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">re</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=rl&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect"><span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">rl</span>(4)</span></a>, <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sis&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">sis</span>(4)</span></a>, and <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=txp&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">txp</span>(4)</span></a>.</p></li>

    <li><p>The <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=btpand&amp;sektion=8&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">btpand</span>(8)</span></a> daemon
	from NetBSD has been added. This daemon provides support for
	Bluetooth Network Access Point (NAP), Group Ad-hoc Network
	(GN) and Personal Area Network User (PANU)
	profiles.</p></li>

    <li><p>The <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=jail&amp;sektion=8&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	  <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">jail</span>(8)</span></a> subsystem
	has been updated. Changes include:</p>

      <ul>
	<li>
	  <p>Multiple addresses of both IPv4 and IPv6 per jail has
	    been supported. It is even possible to have jails without
	    an IP address at all, which basically gives one a chrooted
	    environment with restricted process view and no
	    networking.</p>
	</li>

	<li>
	  <p>SCTP (<a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sctp&amp;sektion=4&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect"><span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">sctp</span>(4)</span></a>) with
	    IPv6 in jails has been implemented.</p>
	</li>

	<li><p>Specific CPU binding by using <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=cpuset&amp;sektion=1&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	      <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">cpuset</span>(1)</span></a> has
	      been implemented. Note that the current implementation
	      allows the superuser inside of the jail to change the
	      CPU bindings specified. This behavior will be fixed in
	    the next release.</p>
	</li>

	<li>
	  <p>A <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=jail&amp;sektion=8&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	      <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">jail</span>(8)</span></a> can
	    start with a specific route FIB now.</p>
	</li>

	<li>
	  <p>A <tt class="LITERAL">show jails</tt> subcommand in <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=ddb&amp;sektion=8&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	      <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">ddb</span>(8)</span></a> has been
	      added.</p>
	</li>

	<li><p>Compatibility support which permits 32-bit jail
	    binaries to be used on 64-bit systems to manage jails has been
	    added.</p>
	</li>

	<li><p>Note that both version numbers of <tt class="LITERAL">jail</tt> and <tt class="LITERAL">prison</tt> in the <a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=jail&amp;sektion=8&amp;manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE" shape="rect">
	    <span class="CITEREFENTRY"><span class="REFENTRYTITLE">jail</span>(8)</span></a> have been
	    updated for the new features.</p></li>
      </ul>
    </li>

    <li><p>The supported version of the <b class="APPLICATION">GNOME</b> desktop environment (<a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/url.cgi?ports/x11/gnome2/pkg-descr" shape="rect"><tt class="FILENAME">x11/gnome2</tt></a>) has been updated from
	  2.22 to 2.26.</p></li>

    <li><p>The supported version of the <b class="APPLICATION">KDE</b>
	desktop environment has been updated from 3.5.10 (<a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/url.cgi?ports/x11/kde3/pkg-descr" shape="rect"><tt class="FILENAME">x11/kde3</tt></a>) to 4.2.2 (<a href="http://www.FreeBSD.org/cgi/url.cgi?ports/x11/kde4/pkg-descr" shape="rect"><tt class="FILENAME">x11/kde4</tt></a>).</p></li>
  </ul>

  <p>For more details, please see <a href="../relnotes-detailed/" shape="rect">the
    Detailed Release Notes</a>.</p>

  <p>A list of all platforms currently under development can be found
    on the <a href="../../../platforms/index.html" shape="rect">Supported
      Platforms</a> page.</p>

  </div>
          <br class="clearboth" />
        </div>
        
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