Uptime vs. Kernel updates (was Re: [TriLUG] Prosperous New Year)

[David A. Cafaro]

Simply put, none of my clients have terminal/shell access to the
machine.  I allow ftp/www/imap/pop/smtp access to the server and that's
it.  So I focus my attention on keeping those updated and current as
well as keeping my eye open for out of date software (such as php
forums/perl/cgi stuff) and help them keep them current.  These don't
require a reboot to keep secure.

Most kernel security issues are accessible only via shell access or an
errant program.  I don't allow shell access and try to protect against
errant programs.

A reboot risks having to travel to another state (Ok only about 1 hour
drive) to fix a failed reboot.

Time since I last was in the physical presence of my server:

$ uptime
18:53:33  up 472 days, 53 min,  1 user,  load average: 0.02, 0.05, 0.02

Time when I was last in the same state as my server: ~4 Months.

Cheers,
David

On Tue, 2006-01-03 at 15:42 -0500, Rick DeNatale wrote:
> I'm impressed.
> 
> I'm also a bit curious. As good as a long uptime is, what do you guys
> do about security updates to the kernel?  Sure you can get them via
> apt-get, yum, whatever, but doesn't it require a re-boot to actually
> start USING a new kernel?
> 
> --
> Rick DeNatale
> 
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