On Mon, 25 Sep 2006, chrism@imntv.com wrote:
Steph wrote:
I currently have a few CentOs 4.X servers running the latest stock 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp kernel.
I notice kernel.org are now up to version 2.6.18 and many people are using the 2.6.17.11
Does anyone have any opinions with regards to the 17.11 and .18 kernels? I'm led to believe the latest centos stock kernels are the same anyway as are the backported Redhat ones.
There is nothing really "wrong" with using a newer kernel. It just requires more work on your part. The beauty of the stock binaries (including the kernel) is that you can simply type "yum update blah" and know with a fairly high degree of certainty that the system will continue to work, that relevant security fixes have been maintained, dependencies with other programs maintained, etc. If you roll your own kernel from more recent virginal source, it is still likely to work fine, but you will have to mind all those other issues yourself. Unless you have some device that isn't working properly with the stock kernel, it probably isn't worth the hassle of doing things yourself.
Actually, it might be very wrong to run a newer kernel. Sometimes interfaces with the kernel change and tools/libraries need to be updated to accomodate this change. You' cannot be sure of that unless you have a good understanding of those changes. (Especially for enterprise/production usage)
The fact that you ask that question is probably a good indication for me to advise not to change from a CentOS supported kernel. (unless you know what you're doing but since you did ask the question... :))
Kind regards, -- dag wieers, dag@wieers.com, http://dag.wieers.com/ -- [all I want is a warm bed and a kind word and unlimited power]