[TriLUG] Re: Question: RH7.2 kernel update problem via Red Hat Net/up2date?

[James Manning]

[Kevin Sonney]
> As a CYA, I *NEVER* "upgrade" a kernel with up32date/rpm. Instead I
> "install" it with -i - this keeps the old kernel, and adds the new one
> to grub.conf for you, leaving the old one as the default. When you
> reboot, you can choose the new one from the menu, and if it works,
> change the default after the fact (in grub.conf, of course).
> 
> If you want to do it manually, grab the updated kernels from the Red Hat
> ftp site, and then (as root) rpm -ivh kernel-*
> 
> it's also advisable, that if you *DO* grab them manually, check uname -a
> to verify the  arch your kernel was compiled for, and install the proper
> one. Nothing like loosing smp & 686 enhancements because you installed
> the .i386.rpm when there's an smp .i686.rpm

Jeremy already mentioned that up2date will install updated kernels
alongside existing ones and then use grubby for changing the default
pointed to by grub.conf, and that's a very important special case of
the up2date client.  Very nice to have, and the only reason I still
advise people to use up2date for kernel updates.

The second and third paragraphs, while therefore semi-irrelevant after
Jeremy's point, offer up a chance to mention another route for getting
updated rpm's.

In the case where you just want to fetch the (correct arch/smp)
updated rpm's, you don't have to do it via ftp manually, but can
instead use "up2date -d" (or --download, or set the config option) to
use up2date to download but not install the particular rpm's (up2date
-d -f kernel in this case, I'd imagine).  Then you can let the up2date
client figure out the smp/arch/etc for you and just go use the rpm's
once up2date fetches them into /var/spool/up2date/ for you.

Of course, Kevin's still right, ftp is an option, just noting.

The one place where I currently like manual ftp better than up2date is
dialup, because the up2date client won't currently resume broken
downloads, although it's an RFE in bugzilla (#70112)

James
-- 
James Manning <http://www.sublogic.com/james/>
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