The software described in this documentation is either in Extended Support or Sustaining Support. See https://www.oracle.com/us/support/library/enterprise-linux-support-policies-069172.pdf for more information.
Oracle recommends that you upgrade the software described by this documentation as soon as possible.

1.6 Shipped Kernels

Oracle Linux 6.9 ships with the following kernel packages:

  • Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 4 (kernel-uek-4.1.12-61.1.28.el6uek) for x86-64

  • Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 2 (kernel-uek-2.6.39-400.294.3.el6uek) for i386

  • Red Hat Compatible Kernel (kernel-2.6.32-696.el6) for i386 and x86-64

By default, both the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel and the Red Hat Compatible Kernel for the specific architecture (i386 or x86-64) are installed and the system boots the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel.

The ISO image for Oracle Linux 6.9 for i386 includes the Red Hat Compatible Kernel and the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 2 but not the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 4, which does not support i386.

The ISO image for Oracle Linux 6.9 for x86-64 includes the Red Hat Compatible Kernel and the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 4 Update 2 but not the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 2. You are still able to run Oracle Linux 6.9 using the latest Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 3 version.

Note that the default I/O scheduler used for the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel is deadline, while for the Red Hat Compatible Kernel, cfq is the default.

To make your system boot the Red Hat Compatible Kernel by default:

  1. Edit /etc/grub.conf and change the value of the default parameter to indicate the Red Hat Compatible Kernel. (Each entry for a bootable kernel in the file starts with a title definition. The entries are effectively numbered from 0 upwards, where 0 corresponds to the first entry in the file, 1 to the second entry, and so on. To view the GRUB manual, use the info grub command.)

  2. Edit /etc/sysconfig/kernel and change the setting for the default kernel package type from DEFAULTKERNEL=kernel-uek to DEFAULTKERNEL=kernel.

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