[plug] suse kernel upgrade

[Bernd Felsche]

"Jon  Miller" <jlmiller at mmtnetworks.com.au> writes:
>>>>> meyerri at westnet.com.au 4:06:27 pm 23/12/2005 >>>
>>On Fri, 2005-12-23 at 15:39 +0800, Jon Miller wrote:

>>> I've installed SUSE Enterprise Server 9, and would like to put on the
>>> latest kernel on, I believe the latest version for 2.6 is 2.6.14.4
>>> whereas the version on the server is 2.6.5-7.97-smp.  My question s
>>> should this be done via the distro app which probably not get me up to
>>> the latest version of can I do it manually by d/l the latest stable
>>> version.

>>Just one question - Why?

>>SLES (SuSE Linux Enterprise Server) is one of those products like
>>RHEL or Debian Stable. It is not meant to be "contaminated" by the
>>latest and possibly buggiest packages available. The theory is
>>that you run a set of packages which are only patched for security
>>holes, not for features.

there are also patches for things that are really broken. :-)

>>If problems are found and fixes are introduced into newer kernels,
>>the fixes will be backported into your kernel version. Which may
>>require you to have a SUSE support account.

>>If you want the latest, I suggest you move to SUSE 10.0

SuSE 10.0 should be generally stable in a month or so. :-)
It appears stable x86 generally but still spits the dummy on my
AMD64 laptop when "stressed".

>>You can download and recompile a new kernel - I just question
>>whether it's a good idea - since you're now going to have to keep
>>an eye on the kernel mailing list for problems, and actively patch
>>them ....

>>It's up to you - I just question the rationale of installing SLES
>>and then wanting the latest kernel whizzbangs ...

Indeed. IIRC, SLES supports iSCSI which provides another option for
interfacing to the LTO; by putting it in a special system running
the "latest" kernel (of a "free" distro) just for that purpose.
That, btw also provides the flexibility of using the LTO easily from
other Linux servers; as long as you have enough gigabit (TOE) NIC.

http://iscsitarget.sourceforge.net/

>>It has been reported that kernel version 2.6.8 or better handles
>>SCSI tape backups for LTO drives and better.  Where as the version
>>of the kernel that comes with Suse v9 is not up to that version by
>>default.

It is somewhat surprising that you do have sporadic behaviour with
LTO... have you asked about this on the sles-e mailing list?

>>The version of the kernel recommended for the 2.4 kernel is v
>>2.4.29.

I wouldn't build a new system based on a 2.4 kernel. I don't
particularly enjoy the disruption of system upgrades so the further
apart that they can be, the better.
-- 
/"\ Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning, Perth, Western Australia
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