Howto: Upgrade Linux Kernel

by Vivek Gite on January 12, 2007

in CentOS, Debian / Ubuntu, Linux, Package Management, RedHat and Friends, Security, Suse, Troubleshooting, Ubuntu Linux

How do I upgrade my Linux kernel? I would like to upgrade kernel without compiling from source code i.e. binary upgrade. How do I perform the actual upgrade of the kernel in Linux?

You need to compile kernel only if:
=> You need custom made kernel for specific task such as embedded kernel.
=> Apply third party security patches.
=> You need to apply specific patch to Linux

Upgrade of the kernel in Red Hat enterprise Linux version <= 4.x

If your system is registered with Red Hat Network (RHN), then you can use the up2date command as follows:
# up2date -f kernel
For SMP kernel (multi core or multiple CPU) use command:
# up2date -f kernel-smp

Upgrade of the kernel in Fedora Linux / CentOS / RHEL 5

Use yum command to upgrade kernel:
# yum update kernel
If you have downloaded RPM file use rpm command:
# rpm -ivh kernel*

Upgrade of the kernel in Debian or Ubuntu Linux

Use apt-get command. First find your kernel version:
$ uname -r
Next find available kernel images:
$ apt-cache search linux-image
Now install kernel by explicitly specifying version number:
# apt-get install linux-image-x.x.x-xx
OR
$ sudo apt-get install linux-image-x.x.x-xx