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Upgrade kernel on Dual Xeons

Luigi Ramone | 15 December, 2005 21:15

Updated for latest kernel (RH 7.3):

2.4.20-24.7

This is the way I did it - I went to 2.4.20-18.7 first, then went to 2.4.20-20.7. (in any case I am running 2.4.20-20.9 which is the latest for RH 9 - this How-To assumes you are running RH 7.3, but the steps are the same).

This section has 2 parts:

If you are running a kernel that is OLDER THAN 2.4.20-18.7 run PART A first, then PART B.

If you are already running 2.4.20-18.7, go straight to Part B.



As some may already know, Dual Xeon servers have trouble with upgrading kernels to the latest one.

Check this thread for more info which was titled "WARNING - dont upgrade kernel on dell dual xenon's":
http://forum.rackshack.net/showthre...&threadid=23594

This How-To is based on Patrick's last post in that thread - he gets all the credits for getting the info from Red Hat:
http://forum.rackshack.net/showthre...0803#post160803

I am just posting here the way that worked for me based on his instructions - for some reason, his instructions alone did not work for me, and some of the files could not be found - also my server stalled on reboot using his instructions. I had to run up2date as well. I also made this thread so that others can discuss problems with it if any, since the other thread has been closed. Also, his post may not be noticed by those who have the same problem as myself with upgrading the kernel with the Dual Xeon.

The instructions are fairly straightforward. However, make sure you backup your server before attempting this. You do this at your own risk!

PART A: Upgrading to 2.4.20-18.7


1) Log in as root in SSH

2) If you have not registered for the Red Hat up2date service for automatic kernel updates, do it now by running this in your command line:

rhn_register

And follow the instructions. For more information, do a search in these forums.

3) Run the following commands (you are installing the "mkinitrd" from RH version 8 so that it works with version 7.3 - this is so that the kernel upgrade works - once you have done this, future kernel upgrades should work without any problems - note: lilo is updated automatically):

cd /

mkdir rpm2

cd rpm2

wget ftp://ftp.rpmfind.net/linux/redhat/8.0/en/os/i386/RedHat/RPMS/glibc-2.2.93-5.i386.rpm

wget ftp://ftp.rpmfind.net/linux/redhat/8.0/en/os/i386/RedHat/RPMS/glibc-common-2.2.93-5.i386.rpm

wget ftp://ftp.rpmfind.net/linux/redhat/8.0/en/os/i386/RedHat/RPMS/glibc-devel-2.2.93-5.i386.rpm

wget ftp://ftp.uconn.edu/unix/linux/redhat/updates/7.3/i686/kernel-smp-2.4.20-18.7.i686.rpm

wget ftp://ftp.rpmfind.net/linux/redhat/8.0/en/os/i386/RedHat/RPMS/lvm-1.0.3-9.i386.rpm

wget ftp://ftp.rpmfind.net/linux/redhat/8.0/en/os/i386/RedHat/RPMS/mkinitrd-3.4.28-1.i386.rpm

rpm -Uvh *.rpm

up2date -uv

4) Now you need to reboot by typing this in the command line:

reboot

5) Check to see if the upgrade has worked by typing this in the command line:

uname -r

You should see:

2.4.20-18.7smp

Done! I hope this helps others with the same problem that I had. Also, feel free to discuss better ways of doing this, and let me know if I made a mistake with the above instructions.


NEW ADDITION:

PART B: Upgrading to 2.4.20-24.7

Only do this if you are already running 2.4.20-18.7 or higher. If not, do Part A first!

To upgrade to latest kernel 2.4.20-24.7 AFTER applying the above steps, I did the following which worked for me:


1) Run this in SSH as root:

up2date --configure

(Look for option # 1 (pkgSkipList). [or whatever the number is]
Remove kernel from the skip list by unchecking that option.
Save this.)

2) Run this in SSH:

up2date -uv

3) Reboot by running this:

reboot

4) Check to see if the upgrade has worked by typing this in the command line:

uname -r

You should see:

2.4.20-24.7smp

If that did not work, or if you get an error with up2date right at the end, you need to manually edit lilo.conf by doing this:

edit /etc/lilo.conf

Change:

default=2.4.20-18.7smp

to the new kernel label:

default=2.4.20-24.7smp

Then, run at the command line:

lilo

The * should be next to the newest kernel.

Then reboot.

(if you are running RH 8, the kernet would be - 2.4.20-24.8smp
For RH 9 it would be - 2.4.20-24.9smp)


ENSURE YOU DID STEP (1) AND UNCHECK THE SKIP KERNEL OPTION IN CONFIGURE.

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