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Article Reference

Article ID: 2599
Last update: 05-11-06
Issue:
How do I use the up2date agent to upgrade my kernel from Red Hat Network (RHN)?
Resolution:
If your system is registered with Red Hat Network (RHN), then you can use the up2date agent to download and install the latest kernel available on your subscribed channel. You can use the up2date command as follows: 
up2date -f kernel
-or- 
up2date -f kernel-smp
In order to find what kernel you have installed, you can run 
rpm -qa | grep kernel
This will return every rpm package installed that has the term 'kernel' in it. Here is an example: 


# rpm -qa | grep kernel
kernel-2.4.21-9.EL
kernel-2.4.21-9.0.1.EL
kernel-2.4.21-4.EL
kernel-smp-2.4.21-9.0.1.EL
kernel-smp-2.4.21-4.0.1.EL
kernel-pcmcia-cs-3.1.31-13
kernel-source-2.4.21-9.0.1.EL
kernel-2.4.21-4.0.1.EL
kernel-utils-2.4-8.37.1
kernel-smp-2.4.21-4.EL
kernel-smp-2.4.21-9.EL


On this particular system, I have both the kernel and the kernel-smp RPM's installed. You may have kernel, kernel-smp, or both packages installed depending on your system hardware and requirements.

Here is an example of using up2date to upgrade a kernel, first I check the available updates with up2date -l, then I update the system with the convention up2date -f package_name(s): 

# up2date -l
 
Fetching package list for channel: rhel-i386-as-3...
########################################
 
Fetching Obsoletes list for channel: rhel-i386-as-3...
########################################
 
Fetching rpm headers...
 
Name                                    Version        Rel
----------------------------------------------------------
 
The following Packages were marked to be skipped by your configuration:
 
Name                                    Version        Rel  Reason
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
kernel                                  2.4.21         9.0.3.ELPkg name/pattern
kernel-smp                              2.4.21         9.0.3.ELPkg name/pattern
kernel-source                           2.4.21         9.0.3.ELPkg name/pattern


# up2date -f kernel kernel-smp kernel-source
 
Fetching package list for channel: rhel-i386-as-3...
########################################
 
Fetching Obsoletes list for channel: rhel-i386-as-3...
 
Name                                    Version        Rel
----------------------------------------------------------
kernel                                  2.4.21         9.0.3.EL            i686
kernel-smp                              2.4.21         9.0.3.EL            i686
kernel-source                           2.4.21         9.0.3.EL            i386
 
 
Testing package set / solving RPM inter-dependencies...
########################################
kernel-2.4.21-9.0.3.EL.i686 ########################## Done.
kernel-smp-2.4.21-9.0.3.EL. ########################## Done.
kernel-source-2.4.21-9.0.3. ########################## Done.
Preparing              ########################################### [100%]
 
Installing...
   1:kernel-source          ########################################### [100%]
   2:kernel                 ########################################### [100%]
   3:kernel-smp             ########################################### [100%]


Note: You have to use the -f option because the kernel is in the skip list by default. You can combine packages in the up2date command, but you cannot use the * as a regular expression in this notation to get all packages that begin with, say, kernel-*.

The next step is to reboot your system in order to use the new kernel. This method will keep the old kernel installed so if there are any problems you have the safety net of booting to an older kernel. Your grub.conf and lilo.conf files should be updated, but you could always verify these by looking at the contents of those files before and after the up2date command is run.


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