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Community ▶ Questions ▶ Disadvantages of using distro supplied kernel (CentOS 6)
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Disadvantages of using distro supplied kernel (CentOS 6)

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I need to install selinux for a clients web server on CentOS 6.x. This requires that we install the CentOS kernel and use pv-grub. Obviously the CentOS kernel is much older (2.6.32) than the Linode supplied kernel (3.6.5) but I'm only concerned about security and stability. My gut tells me that the Linode kernels are tuned for their hardware and would therefor be more stable. Am I right? Should I be concerned? Any insight would be greatly appreciated :)

4 Replies

I can't comment on centos but I've been running ubuntu 10.04 with kernel 2.6.32-44-generic-pae for over 2 years without any problems on multiple machines :). I don't think I've ever had a problem with a distro kernel using pv-grub.

RHEL (and therefore CENTOS) backports ALL required security into their so called "older" kernels.

They keep the older number scheme because RHEL tests EVERYTHING for long term stability.

https://access.redhat.com/security/upda … c_cid=3093">https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/backporting/?sc_cid=3093

If you want bleeding edge, use Fedora, if you want long term support, stability, and security use RHEL/CENTOS.

I've been running half a dozen CentOS 6 instances on Linode using the distro supplied kernel and pv-grub for well over a year.

No issues here.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate knowing that others have used the Distro kernels without problems. Cheers!

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