How to Install Kernel 7.x on AlmaLinux 9

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Kernel is the central component of an operating system that manages hardware resources and enables communication between software and hardware. It handles memory management, process scheduling, device drivers, and system calls.

Prerequisites

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• Access to the AlmaLinux 9 command line terminal.
• Root privileges or Sudo privileges.

Step 1 - Check the Current Kernel Version

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Use the following command to display the currently running kernel version:

uname -r

Output:

5.14.0-611.16.1.el9_7.x86_64

Step 2 - Enable ELRepo Repository

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Import the ELRepo GPG key and install the ELRepo repository package:

rpm --import https://www.elrepo.org/RPM-GPG-KEY-elrepo.org
dnf install -y https://www.elrepo.org/elrepo-release-9.el9.elrepo.noarch.rpm

Verify the repository is enabled and list available kernel packages:

dnf --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="elrepo-kernel" list available

Output:

Available Packages
bpftool.x86_64                          7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt.x86_64                        6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt-core.x86_64                   6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt-devel.x86_64                  6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt-devel-matched.x86_64          6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt-doc.noarch                    6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt-headers.x86_64                6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt-modules.x86_64                6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt-modules-extra.x86_64          6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt-tools.x86_64                  6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt-tools-libs.x86_64             6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-lt-tools-libs-devel.x86_64       6.1.175-1.el9.elrepo       elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml.x86_64                        7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-core.x86_64                   7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-devel.x86_64                  7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-devel-matched.x86_64          7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-doc.noarch                    7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-headers.x86_64                7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-modules.x86_64                7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-modules-extra.x86_64          7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-tools.x86_64                  7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-tools-libs.x86_64             7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-tools-libs-devel.x86_64       7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
perf.x86_64                             7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
python3-perf.x86_64                     7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel

Step 3 - Install Kernel 7.x

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Run the following command to install the latest mainline kernel:

dnf --enablerepo=elrepo-kernel install kernel-ml -y

Output:

  Dependencies resolved.
  ================================================================================
   Package              Arch      Version                  Repository        Size
  ================================================================================
  Installing:
   kernel-ml            x86_64    7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo      elrepo-kernel     26 k
  Installing dependencies:
   kernel-ml-core       x86_64    7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo      elrepo-kernel     57 M
   kernel-ml-modules    x86_64    7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo      elrepo-kernel     52 M

  Transaction Summary
  ================================================================================
  Install  3 Packages

  Total download size: 110 M
  Installed size: 158 M
  Downloading Packages:
  (1/3): kernel-ml-7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo.x86_64.rpm  65 kB/s |  26 kB     00:00
  (2/3): kernel-ml-modules-7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo.x8  12 MB/s |  52 MB     00:04
  (3/3): kernel-ml-core-7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo.x86_6 9.3 MB/s |  57 MB     00:06
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Total                                            17 MB/s | 110 MB     00:06

Complete!

Step 4 - Verify the Default Kernel

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By default, the newly installed kernel will be set as the default boot kernel.

Verify the default kernel:

grubby --default-kernel

Output:

/boot/vmlinuz-7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo.x86_64

List all installed kernels:

rpm -qa | grep kernel

Output:

  kernel-tools-libs-5.14.0-611.16.1.el9_7.x86_64
  kernel-modules-core-5.14.0-611.16.1.el9_7.x86_64
  kernel-core-5.14.0-611.16.1.el9_7.x86_64
  kernel-modules-5.14.0-611.16.1.el9_7.x86_64
  kernel-5.14.0-611.16.1.el9_7.x86_64
  kernel-tools-5.14.0-611.16.1.el9_7.x86_64
  kernel-ml-core-7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo.x86_64
  kernel-ml-modules-7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo.x86_64
  kernel-ml-7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo.x86_64

Step 5 - Reboot the Server

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Reboot the server to boot into the new kernel:

reboot

Step 6 - Verify the Running Kernel Version

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After the reboot, verify the active kernel version:

uname -r

Output:

7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo.x86_64

You can also verify using:

uname -sr

Output:

Linux 7.0.12-1.el9.elrepo.x86_64

The system is now running the latest Kernel 7.x provided by ELRepo.