Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel update procedureEdit

Created , updated

For posterity:

uptime

Check for available updates:

sudo up2date --list

Echo current release info:

uname -a
cat /etc/redhat-release

Trigger an update of all non-kernel RPMs:

sudo up2date --nox -u

Install the new kernel:

sudo up2date -uf kernel kernel-doc kernel-source kernel-utils

Confirm that the kernel is installed in /boot:

cd /boot
ll

Check the RPM database:

rpm -qa | grep kernel

Check that /boot/grub/grub.conf: contains the appropriate lines at position 0 (first in list):

title Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES (2.4.21-37.0.1.EL)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.21-37.0.1.EL ro root=/dev/hda3
        initrd /initrd-2.4.21-37.0.1.EL.img

Reboot and cross your fingers:

sudo reboot

Post install checks

uname -a
cat /etc/redhat-release

Check that critical services are running (Bansshee, FTP, HTTP, MySQL, Mailman, clamd, IMAP, ipop3, svn, sendmail, xinetd, webmin etc):

sudo service --status-all
sudo chkconfig --list

See if up2date is now satisfied:

sudo up2date --list

See also

Examples (oldest first):