kernel upgrade for RHEL5.3. steps required.

sree.m · 02-15-2012, 11:08 AM

Hi there,

I am new to RHEL.
Can anyone provide me the step by step procedure to upgrade the kernel of RHEL5.3 operating system.

Thanks in advance
Sree

MensaWater · 02-15-2012, 11:20 AM

RedHat has deployment guides. The section on kernel updates for RHEL5 is at:
http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Re...ch-kernel.html

Note that to maintain RedHat support you have to use their kernel updates and not build your own.

pafoo · 02-15-2012, 12:50 PM

sudo yum upgrade -y

Then reboot.

MensaWater · 02-15-2012, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pafoo

sudo yum upgrade -y

That's assuming he wants to do a full version upgrade - his question was just about upgrading the kernel.

pafoo · 02-15-2012, 03:29 PM

sudo yum update kernel -y
reboot

MensaWater · 02-15-2012, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pafoo

sudo yum update kernel -y
reboot

You're assuming he just wants to update to the latest kernel for RHEL5 and also assuming he doesn't have any other things to take into consideration such as drivers installed for other things (e.g. Qlogic fibre cards). I suggested he read the deployment guide section on Kernel updates to gain an understanding of the kernel updates for RedHat which are a bit different than for other Linux flavors.

John VV · 02-15-2012, 04:39 PM

pafoo "sudo" is not set up by default on rhel

it can be but is not the default

sree.m for the OLDER 5.3 you are paying red hat a boatload of cash to STAY with 5.3 .I an guessing ,for some NEEDED program .
So you NEED to STAY with that REQUIRED kernel version, for this unnamed old program .

if not then upgrade to the current in the 5 series 5.8
or install the current release RHEL 6.2

sree.m · 02-16-2012, 01:13 AM

Hi all,

thanks for your reply.

I am facing a cluster related issue on my 2 node cluster, hence i would like to give a try by upgrading the kernel of both the nodes.

Can you suggest whether a kernel upgrade can resolve rhel cluster bug?? m out of RHEL support, so wont get support. ALso m not connected to RHN to install any packages.

Regards,
Sree

John VV · 02-16-2012, 03:05 AM

for an unknown bug ????
there is no way to know without the full logs

but i would run

Code:

su -
yum update

on the cluster

to keep it up to date

also the CURRENT kernel for RHEL 5.3 will be installed

Quote:

m out of RHEL support, so wont get support. ALso m not connected to RHN to install any packages.

then you are S.O.of L
install CentOS6 or ScientificLinux6 on the cluster or pay red hat the license to install on a server

sree.m · 02-16-2012, 04:18 AM

Hi john,

I would possibly go for RHEL contract renewal as the servers are in production environment, however it would be nice if i could resolve the issue as the renewal process would take long time.

Can you please suggest if there is anything i must be careful before I go for "yum update" , this is very much concerned as the servers are in production.

regards,
Sree

TB0ne · 02-16-2012, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sree.m

Hi john,
I would possibly go for RHEL contract renewal as the servers are in production environment, however it would be nice if i could resolve the issue as the renewal process would take long time.

Sorry, that's just not the case. RedHat can renew your contract over the phone.

Quote:

Can you please suggest if there is anything i must be careful before I go for "yum update" , this is very much concerned as the servers are in production.

If you're not under contract with RedHat, "yum update" won't work, since you don't have access to the RHEL network. Again, if you have production servers, running RHEL under contract, call RedHat support if you have questions/concerns. Otherwise, you won't be able to use the yum online update functions, and will have to do EVERYTHING manually, if you can do it at all. RHEL kernel updates aren't available unless you pay for them.

pafoo · 02-16-2012, 11:23 AM

Well if you have a lab environment, you can try setting up a yum repo that uses the CentOS repo. CentOS is redhat. Or just try using rpm. Download the applicable kernel and run rpm -Fvh kernel.* (use rpm -Uvh for all other packages.) If you are having a cluster problem, odds are it is not being caused by a kernel. You question should really be on what problems you are having with a Linux Cluster, not on a kernel upgrade.

sree.m · 02-16-2012, 12:22 PM

hi TB0ne,

what i meant by difficulty in renewing RHEL account is budget related

, still i understand the concern of RHEL in renewing the account for software/patch installation.In that case I will have to speed up the renewal process. Anyways thanks for the information.

Regards,
Sree