Changing Kernel on the fly

NSKL · 06-07-2002, 04:16 PM

Out of pure curiosity, is it possible to change a Linux kernel without stopping the system. Kernel loads into memory, so it has to be unloaded and the new one loaded into the memory which i assume will make a pause of the system, but is it possible to, in any way, switch a kernel "on the fly" without halting/rebooting the box?
Thanks in advance!
-NSKL

isajera · 06-07-2002, 05:28 PM

i'm pretty sure you can't - at least not with linux, or any other o/s i know of. i remember reading a discussion on kernel-hot-swapping, as it was put, on the lkml, and a few wannabe hackers though it would be cool, but the experienced code gods deemed it both unnecessary and waaaaay to difficult to ever be justifiable. i don't know all that much about kernel programming, but i doubt that kernel hot-swapping is going to happen anytime soon.