[rhelv6-list] RHEL versions, kernel versions, and supportability

[Brian Long (brilong)]

On Jul 11, 2013, at 1:27 AM, Kelvin Chu <yskchu at gmail.com<mailto:yskchu at gmail.com>> wrote:


Hi guys,
Have a question on red hat version and kernel version supportability.

I understand that each minor release comes with an updated kernel; for example, 6.2 comes with 2.6.32-220, and 6.3 comes with 2.6.32-279, and 6.4 comes with 32-358 and 6.0 originally came with 32-71.

Is using a old kernel for a newer release supported?


Nope.  Red Hat implements a kernel ABI (application binary interface) which means there is a way to compile kernel modules which are universal between all kernel versions in a specific RHEL release.  This means vendors can provide a single kernel module and it _should_ work across any kernel in RHEL 6.  VMware does this with their "Guest Tools", for example.

For this reason, you should try to run the latest kernel possible assuming there are no regressions.  You should definitely test your applications when new kernels are released because most of the time you'll want the security updates and possible bug-fixes provided.

/Brian/

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listman.redhat.com/archives/rhelv6-list/attachments/20130711/5b74ac16/attachment.htm>