Installation and Boot

The following features, enhancements, and changes related to installation and boot are introduced in this release of Oracle Linux 9.

New Boot Menu Entry for `fips=1` Added to ISO Installations

A new boot menu entry enables the fips=1 kernel option for ISO installations to simplify FIPS compliance.

The DVD and Boot ISO image installations provide a new boot menu entry for setting the fips=1 kernel boot option. Enabling FIPS mode during the Oracle Linux installation ensures that the system generates all keys with FIPS-approved algorithms and continuous monitoring tests in place. By using this boot option, you start the installation with the fips=1 kernel parameter to target the system's compliance with Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140 requirements.

UEK R8 Default Kernel Handling

If you're performing a fresh Oracle Linux 9.7 installation from an ISO image, then after the installation completes, the UEK R8 kernel is automatically enabled.

UEK R8 Update 1 includes many new features including security and performance enhancements. For more details, see Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel 8 Update 1: Release Notes (6.12.0-100).

If you select RHCK as the default kernel instead of UEK, ensure that you disable UEK yum repositories or ULN channels. For more information about switching to RHCK, see Oracle Linux 9: Managing Kernels and System Boot.

In the case of updates, switching to UEK R8 isn't automatic. If you're upgrading from a prior update release of Oracle Linux 9, the system continues to run with the kernel that's already installed.

If the system is using UEK R7, you can upgrade to UEK R8 by using the following instructions:

Updating by using yum

When you update to Oracle Linux 9.7, the previous kernel is preserved. At the same time, the UEK R8 yum repository is also added to the system yum configuration. To move to the latest kernel, run the following commands:
```
sudo dnf config-manager --disable ol9_UEKR7
sudo dnf config-manager --enable ol9_UEKR8
sudo dnf install -y kernel-uek
sudo dnf update
```
Updating by using ULN
Similar to the previous scenario, the previous kernel is preserved. However, system subscriptions might change as a result. Sign in to https://linux.oracle.com, and update the system channel subscriptions to enable the ol9_x86_64_UEKR8 or ol9_aarch64_UEKR8, as required. After you have updated the system channel subscriptions, run:
```
sudo dnf install -y kernel-uek
sudo dnf update
```

After setting the default kernel, you can further configure kernel boot parameters so that these parameters are applied at every system boot. For instructions, see Oracle Linux 9: Managing Kernels and System Boot.