Chapter 30. Upgrading the Kernel
The Red Hat Linux kernel is custom built by the Red Hat kernel team
to ensure its integrity and compatibility with supported hardware. Before
Red Hat releases a kernel, it must first pass a rigorous set of quality assurance
tests.
Red Hat Linux kernels are packaged in RPM format so that they are easy to upgrade
and verify. For example, when the kernel RPM package
distributed by Red Hat, Inc. is installed, an initrd
image is created; thus, it is not necessary to use the
mkinitrd command after installing a different kernel.
It also modifies the boot loader configuration file to include the new
kernel if either GRUB or LILO is installed.
This chapter discusses the steps necessary to upgrade the kernel on an x86
system only.
 | Warning |
|---|
| | Building a custom kernel is not supported by the Red Hat Linux Installation
Support Team. For more information on building a custom kernel from the
source code, refer to Appendix A Building a Custom Kernel.
|
30.1. The 2.4 Kernel
Red Hat Linux ships with a custom 2.4 kernel, which offers the following
features:
The directory for the kernel source is
/usr/src/linux-2.4/ instead of
/usr/src/linux/.
Support for the ext3 file system.
Multi-processor (SMP) support.
USB support.
Preliminary support for IEEE 1394, also referred to as
FireWire™, devices.
