Chapter 3 Installation and Availability

Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 3 (UEK R3) is supported only on the x86-64 architecture.

Oracle Linux 7

UEK R3 is the default boot kernel for fresh installations of Oracle Linux 7.

Oracle Linux 6

You can install UEK R3 on Oracle Linux 6 Update 4 or later, running either the Red Hat compatible kernel or a previous version of the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel. If you are still running an older version of Oracle Linux, first update your system to the latest available update release.

Starting with Oracle Linux 6 Update 5 for x86-64, UEK R3 is the default boot kernel for fresh installations of Oracle Linux 6.

For systems that are currently running a previous version of the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK R2) or the Red Hat compatible kernel (RHCK), you can switch to UEK R3 at any time. For details, see:

Kernel Source Code

The kernel's source code is available from a public git source code repository at:
https://oss.oracle.com/git/?p=linux-uek3-3.8.git.

3.1 Upgrading to the Latest UEK Release

For systems that are currently running UEK R3, you upgrade to the latest UEK release as follows:

  1. Ensure the system is configured to receive updates from the correct channels or repositories.

    For Oracle Linux 7, subscribe to either the ol7_x86_64_UEKR3 channel on ULN, or the ol7_UEKR3 repository on the Oracle public yum server.

    For Oracle Linux 6, subscribe to either the ol6_x86_64_UEKR3_latest channel on ULN, or the ol6_UEKR3_latest repository on the Oracle Yum Server.

  2. Upgrade all packages on the system, including kernel packages. 

    # yum update

    By default, the boot manager automatically enables the most recent kernel version so you do not need to change your GRUB or GRUB 2 configuration.

  3. Reboot the system.

    Oracle Linux 7: 

    # systemctl reboot

    Oracle Linux 6: 

    # shutdown -r now

3.2 Switching an Oracle Linux 6 System to UEK R3 (ULN)

If you have a subscription to Oracle Unbreakable Linux support, you can obtain the packages for Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 3 (UEK R3) by registering your system with the Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN) and subscribing it to additional channels.

Before you begin:

The following instructions also include steps for updating a system to use the Oracle OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED) tools for UEK R3.

To Switch a System to UEK R3:

  1. Using a browser, log in at https://linux.oracle.com with the ULN user name and password that you used to register the system.

  2. On the Systems tab, click the link name of your system in the list of registered machines.

  3. On the System Details page, click Manage Subscriptions.

  4. On the System Summary page, select each required channel in the Available Channels list and click the right arrow to move the channel to the Subscribed Channels list.

    The kernel image and user-space packages are available on the following ULN channels:

    Channel Name and Label

    Description

    Oracle Linux 6 Latest (x86_64)

    ol6_x86_64_latest

    All packages released for Oracle Linux 6 (x86_64) including the latest errata packages. (x86_64).

    Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 3 for Oracle Linux 6 (x86_64) - Latest

    ol6_x86_64_UEKR3_latest

    Latest packages for Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 3 for Oracle Linux 6 (x86_64).

    Contains the kernel-uek*,
    dtrace-modules-*, libdtrace-*, and uname26 packages.

    Oracle Linux 6 Dtrace Userspace Tools (x86_64) - Latest

    ol6_x86_64_Dtrace_userspace_latest

    The latest DTrace user space tools for Oracle Linux 6 (x86_64).

    Contains the dtrace-utils* packages.

    OFED supporting tool packages for Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel on Oracle Linux 6 (x86_64)

    ol6_x86_64_ofed_UEK

    Latest OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED) supporting tools for the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) on Oracle Linux 6 (x86_64).

    HA Utilities for MySQL and Oracle Linux 6 (x86_64)

    ol6_x86_64_mysql-ha-utils

    Management Utilities for MySQL HA with Oracle Linux 6.

    Contains the drbd84-utils package.

    As a minimum, you should subscribe the system to the ol6_x86_64_latest and the ol6_x86_64_UEKR3_latest channels. These channels are enabled by default when you register an Oracle Linux 6 system with ULN.

    Caution

    Take care not to select the ol6_x86_64_UEK_BETA channel.

    Because you are switching to the latest UEK kernel, you no longer need to subscribe the system to the previous UEK R2 (ol6_x86_64_UEK_latest) channel.

  5. When you have finished selecting channels, click Save Subscriptions and log out of ULN.

  6. Log in as root on the system.

  7. (Optional) Install the Oracle OFED packages for UEK R3.

    Perform the following steps only if want to install or update the Oracle OFED packages, or you want to replace the OFED packages installed from either the Oracle Linux 6 full installation DVD image, or from the _base or the _latest channels on ULN.

    The Oracle OFED packages are available only for x86_64 platforms.

    1. Ensure the system is subscribed to the ol6_x86_64_ofed_UEK channel on ULN.

    2. Edit /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/rhnplugin.conf and add the following lines to the end of the file: 

      [ol6_x86_64_ofed_UEK]
priority=20

    3. Install the yum-plugin-priorities package from the ol6_x86_64_UEKR3_latest channel: 

      # yum install yum-plugin-priorities

    4. Downgrade any OFED packages that are already present on the system if the package version number in the ol6_x86_64_ofed_UEK channel is lower than the installed one.

      You can use the yum --showduplicates list command to check the package version numbers, for example: 

      # yum yum --showduplicates list rdma
...
Installed Packages 
rdma.noarch 6.6_3.15-1.0.1.el6 @ol6_u6_x86_64_base 
Available Packages 
rdma.noarch 3.6-1.0.5.el6 ol6_x86_64_ofed_UEK

      You downgrade a package with the yum downgrade command, for example: 

      # yum downgrade rdma
...
Removed:
  rdma.noarch 6.6_3.15-1.0.1.el6

Installed:
  rdma.noarch 3.6-1.0.5.el6

Complete!

    5. Remove the ibutils-libs package (if present): 

      # yum remove ibutils-libs

    6. Install the Oracle OFED packages from the ol6_x86_64_ofed_UEK channel as required, for example: 

      # yum install ibutils

  8. Upgrade all packages on the system, including kernel packages. 

    # yum update

    By default, the boot manager automatically enables the most recent kernel version so you do not need to change your GRUB configuration.

  9. Reboot the system. 

    # shutdown -r now

3.3 Switching an Oracle Linux 6 System to UEK R3 (Oracle Yum Server)

If your system is not registered with ULN, you can obtain most of the packages for Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 3 (UEK R3) from Oracle Yum Server by subscribing it to additional repositories.

Before you begin, check that the system meets the requirements for installing UEK R3, see Chapter 3, Installation and Availability.

The following instructions also include steps for updating a system to use the Oracle OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED) tools for UEK R3.

To Switch a System to UEK R3:

  1. Log in as root on the system.

  2. Change directory to /etc/yum.repos.d. 

    # cd /etc/yum.repos.d
    Note

    This assumes that yum on your system is configured to find repository files in the default /etc/yum.repos.d directory.

  3. Move the existing yum repository file to a backup file, for example: 

    # mv /etc/yum.repos.d/public-yum-ol6.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/public-yum-ol6.repo.bck

  4. Download the latest Oracle Linux 6 repository configuration file, https://yum.oracle.com/public-yum-ol6.repo, for example: 

    # wget -O /etc/yum.repos.d/public-yum-ol6.repo https://yum.oracle.com/public-yum-ol6.repo

  5. Enable the required repositories by editing the public-yum-ol6.repo file.

    You enable or disable repositories in the file by setting the value of the enabled directive to 1 or 0 as required.

    The kernel image and user-space packages are available on the following Oracle Yum Server repositories:

    Repository

    Description

    ol6_latest

    All packages released for Oracle Linux 6 (x86_64) including the latest errata packages.

    ol6_UEKR3_latest

    Latest packages for Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 3 for Oracle Linux 6.

    Contains the kernel-uek*, dtrace-modules-*, libdtrace-*, and uname26 packages.

    ol6_ofed_UEK

    Latest OFED supporting tools for the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) on Oracle Linux 6 (x86_64).

    As a minimum, you should enable the ol6_latest and the ol6_UEKR3_latest repositories.

    Note

    The DTrace and DRBD utility packages are not available on Oracle Yum Server.

    Because you are switching to the latest UEK kernel, you can disable the previous UEK R2 (ol6_UEK_latest) repository.

    In the following example, the ol6_UEKR3_latest repository is enabled, and the ol6_UEK_latest repository is disabled: 

    [ol6_UEKR3_latest]
name=Latest Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Oracle Linux $releasever ($basearch)
baseurl=https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL6/UEKR3/latest/$basearch/
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1

[ol6_UEK_latest]
name=Latest Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Oracle Linux $releasever ($basearch)
baseurl=https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL6/UEK/latest/$basearch/
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle
gpgcheck=1
enabled=0

  6. (Optional) Install the Oracle OFED packages for UEK R3.

    Perform the following steps only if want to install or update the Oracle OFED packages, or you want to replace the OFED packages installed from either the Oracle Linux 6 full installation DVD image, or from the _base or the _latest repositories on public yum.

    The Oracle OFED packages are available only for x86_64 platforms.

    1. Ensure the ol6_ofed_UEK repository is enabled on the system.

    2. Install the yum-plugin-priorities package from the ol6_latest repository: 

      # yum install yum-plugin-priorities

    3. Downgrade any OFED packages that are already present on the system if the package version number in the ol6_ofed_UEK repository is lower than the installed one.

      You can use the yum --showduplicates list command to check the package version numbers, for example: 

      # yum yum --showduplicates list rdma
...
Installed Packages 
rdma.noarch 6.6_3.15-1.0.1.el6 @ol6_u6_base 
Available Packages 
rdma.noarch 3.6-1.0.5.el6 ol6_ofed_UEK

      You downgrade a package with the yum downgrade command, for example: 

      # yum downgrade rdma
...
Removed:
  rdma.noarch 6.6_3.15-1.0.1.el6

Installed:
  rdma.noarch 3.6-1.0.5.el6

Complete!

    4. Remove the ibutils-libs package (if present): 

      # yum remove ibutils-libs

    5. Install the Oracle OFED packages from the ol6_ofed_UEK repository as required, for example: 

      # yum install ibutils

  7. Upgrade all packages on the system, including kernel packages. 

    # yum update

    By default, the boot manager automatically enables the most recent kernel version so you do not need to change your GRUB configuration.

  8. Reboot the system. 

    # shutdown -r now

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