The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK), included as part of Oracle Linux, provides the latest open source innovations, optimizations and security for enterprise cloud workloads. The UEK Release 4 Update 6, based on the upstream kernel 4.1, is the current UEK release that powers the production workloads on Oracle Linux 7 or 6 in the cloud or on-premises.
Linux 4.14 is the latest Long-Term Stable (LTS) release of the kernel, and it is the mainline kernel that the UEK Release 5 tracks. You can experiment the UEK Release 5 preview today with Oracle Linux 7 on x86_64 and ARM64.
The example below is using an Oracle Linux 7 x86_64 instance on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The kernel was upgraded to the UEK Release 5 preview within a few minutes. The same upgrade procedures apply to an Oracle Linux 7 x86_64 instance running on-premises.
The Oracle Linux 7 instance runs the current UEK Release 4 Update 6 kernel.
[root@honsu-ol74 opc]# uname -a Linux honsu-ol74 4.1.12-112.14.13.el7uek.x86_64 #2 SMP Thu Jan 18 11:38:29 PST 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Before performing the upgrade, modify the yum repository setting and enable the UEK Release 5 preview channel:
[root@honsu-ol74 opc]# cd /etc/yum.repos.d [root@honsu-ol74 yum.repos.d]# vi public-yum-ol7.repo [ol7_developer_UEKR5] name=Oracle Linux $releasever UEK5 Development Packages ($basearch) baseurl=http://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL7/developer_UEKR5/$basearch/ gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle gpgcheck=1 enabled=1
Next you run yum upgrade command to perform the upgrade.
[root@honsu-ol74 yum.repos.d]# yum upgrade kernel-uek Loaded plugins: langpacks, ulninfo 11503/11503 Resolving Dependencies --> Running transaction check ---> Package kernel-uek.x86_64 0:4.14.14-11.el7uek will be installed --> Processing Dependency: linux-firmware >= 20180113-60.git65b1c68 for package: kernel-uek-4.14.14-11.el7uek.x86_64 --> Running transaction check ---> Package linux-firmware.noarch 0:20171128-57.git17e62881.0.2.el7 will be updated ---> Package linux-firmware.noarch 0:20180113-60.git65b1c68.el7 will be an update --> Finished Dependency Resolution Dependencies Resolved =========================================================================================================== Package Arch Version Repository Size =========================================================================================================== Installing: kernel-uek x86_64 4.14.14-11.el7uek ol7_developer_UEKR5 52 M Updating for dependencies: linux-firmware noarch 20180113-60.git65b1c68.el7 ol7_developer_UEKR5 56 M Transaction Summary =========================================================================================================== Install 1 Package Upgrade ( 1 Dependent package) Total download size: 107 M Is this ok [y/d/N]: y Downloading packages: (1/2): kernel-uek-4.14.14-11.el7uek.x86_64.rpm | 52 MB 00:00:41 (2/2): linux-firmware-20180113-60.git65b1c68.el7.noarch.rpm | 56 MB 00:00:44 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 2.4 MB/s | 107 MB 00:00:44 Running transaction check Running transaction test Transaction test succeeded Running transaction Updating : linux-firmware-20180113-60.git65b1c68.el7.noarch 1/3 Installing : kernel-uek-4.14.14-11.el7uek.x86_64 2/3 Cleanup : linux-firmware-20171128-57.git17e62881.0.2.el7.noarch 3/3 bash nss-softokn i18n network ifcfg btrfs crypt dm dmraid kernel-modules lvm mdraid qemu qemu-net iscsi resume rootfs-block terminfo udev-rules virtfs biosdevname systemd usrmount -uptrack base fs-lib shutdown bash rescue nss-softokn i18n network ifcfg btrfs crypt dm dmraid kernel-modules lvm mdraid qemu qemu-net iscsi resume rootfs-block terminfo udev-rules virtfs biosdevname systemd usrmount -uptrack base fs-lib shutdown Verifying : kernel-uek-4.14.14-11.el7uek.x86_64 1/3 Verifying : linux-firmware-20180113-60.git65b1c68.el7.noarch 2/3 Verifying : linux-firmware-20171128-57.git17e62881.0.2.el7.noarch 3/3 Installed: kernel-uek.x86_64 0:4.14.14-11.el7uek Dependency Updated: linux-firmware.noarch 0:20180113-60.git65b1c68.el7 Complete!
Now the kernel has been upgraded the UEK Release 5 preview. Reboot the Oracle Linux 7 instance to have the new kernel take effect. When the Oracle Linux 7 instance comes back, you now have the UEK Release 5 preview running.
[root@honsu-ol74 opc]# uname -a Linux honsu-ol74 4.14.14-11.el7uek.x86_64 #2 SMP Tue Feb 13 22:57:19 PST 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
If you have any questions, post them to Oracle Linux Community.
http://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL7/developer_UEKR5/$basearch/
If you want to browse the content of the UEK Release 5 developer build in the Oracle Linux yum server, use the URL:
http://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL7/developer_UEKR5/x86_64/index.html