[CentOS] 5.4 kernel versions?

[NiftyCluster Tom Mitchell]

On 10/30/09, Rob Kampen <rkampen at kampensonline.com> wrote:
> Please excuse a possibly dumb question.
> Prior to the release of CentOS 5.4 I believe two updated 5.4 kernels
> were released as part of 5.3
> 2.6.18-164.el5 and 2.6.18-164.2.1.el5
> Now that 5.4 is released we have just the 2.6.18-164.el5 kernel.
> Now the dumb question - what happened to the updated kernel?
> I now have workstations running 5.4 with the 164.2.1.el5 as they get yum
> update run regularly, however I do not reboot my servers as often and
> now find these do not have the later kernel.
> If some kind soul would please enlighten me.....
> Rob

If you do not reboot the new kernel never activates.

Almost the same with libs and binaries.
If an old binary is running then the update is not magically activated.
For libs and binaries it is possible that the old buggy bits to
continue to run at the same time that new version is available or
running.   Some interesting actions with programs like
firefox, apache, python and other plugin friendly programs might be
observed.

Some programs/ services like sshd do force a restart on the live system
to side step some of these risks when reinstalled or updated.

It does pay to inspect the announcements, change log and release notes
so a reboot
is not delayed and the system left open to risk.

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