Chapter 36. Manually Upgrading the Kernel

Chapter 36. Manually Upgrading the Kernel

36.1. Overview of Kernel Packages
36.2. Preparing to Upgrade
36.3. Downloading the Upgraded Kernel
36.4. Performing the Upgrade
36.5. Verifying the Initial RAM Disk Image
36.6. Verifying the Boot Loader
36.6.1. x86 Systems
36.6.2. Itanium Systems
36.6.3. IBM S/390 and IBM eServer zSeries Systems
36.6.4. IBM eServer iSeries Systems
36.6.5. IBM eServer pSeries Systems

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel is custom built by the Red Hat kernel team to ensure its integrity and compatibility with supported hardware. Before Red Hat releases a kernel, it must first pass a rigorous set of quality assurance tests.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernels are packaged in RPM format so that they are easy to upgrade and verify using the Red Hat Update Agent, or the up2date command. The Red Hat Update Agent automatically queries the Red Hat Network servers and determines which packages need to be updated on your machine, including the kernel. This chapter is only useful for those individuals that require manual updating of kernel packages, without using the up2date command.

Warning

Please note, that building a custom kernel is not supported by the Red Hat Global Services Support team, and therefore is not explored in this manual.

Tip

Use of up2date is highly recommended by Red Hat for installing upgraded kernels.

For more information on Red Hat Network, the Red Hat Update Agent, and up2date, refer to Chapter 16, Red Hat Network.


Note: This documentation is provided {and copyrighted} by Red Hat®, Inc. and is released via the Open Publication License. The copyright holder has added the further requirement that Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. The CentOS project redistributes these original works (in their unmodified form) as a reference for CentOS-4 because CentOS-4 is built from publicly available, open source SRPMS. The documentation is unmodified to be compliant with upstream distribution policy. Neither CentOS-4 nor the CentOS Project are in any way affiliated with or sponsored by Red Hat®, Inc.