Automating use of new kernel

[Jonathan Rawle]

John DeCarlo wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I like to keep up with new kernel releases, especially if they fix
> security issues or other bugs.
> 
> However, I am getting tired of all the manual updates I need to do with
> each new kernel.  So I am asking for advice on automating these tasks.
> 
> Here is what I have to do now:
> 
> 1) Add NTFS support.  Usually go to the linux-ntfs project and get an
> RPM.  Could also recompile the kernel with NTFS added.
> 
> 2) Recompile and set up the Cisco VPN software.
> 
> 3) Reset the Broadcom driver (the tg3 driver still doesn't work with the
> Cisco VPN software).  Doing it from scratch means installing the source
> RPM, going through steps to rpmbuild the binary RPM, then installing the
> new RPM.
> 
> 4) Reinstalling the NVIDIA driver (which I haven't been doing lately
> because of needing 8K stacks *and* NTFS support).
> 
> In particular, if anyone has done something similar, I would love to
> modify as needed.  I would need:
> o) sufficient robustness to recover from failures (say, when things
> don't work the same going from 2.4 to 2.6).
> o) Some way to identify that a new kernel is installed (presumably
> using uname or the like).
> o) Retrieving stuff from the Internet, like a new linux-ntfs project
> RPM that matches the new kernel (or identifying it isn't yet available,
> possibly before doing anything else).

This is straightforward enough, it just needs someone to take the time to do
it, and put it in an init script. I've thought before about a script that
detects if a different kernel is running and automatically run the nvidia
installer. You could also use wget to download things you need (assuming
they have already appeared by the time you upgrade your kernel) but it
would be better if you could find a yum repository that included it.

Robustness going to a new major kernel version is unnecessary in my opinion.
Fedora would never jump a major version during an update.

Jonathan