Proxmox VE Kernel

Introduction

Proxmox publishes three kernel branches, each one with minor feature differences. Beginning with 1.5 the 2.6.18 is the default and recommended branch. (Proxmox VE 0.9 beta till Proxmox 1.4 used 2.6.24).

A Proxmox VE cluster master can manage a mixed kernel setup. For example, you can run two nodes with 2.6.18 and two nodes with 2.6.32 and also nodes with 2.6.24. Depending on the features, some migrations are only possible between identical kernels.

All three kernel branches are using DRBD 8.3.4.

For correctly effecting a kernel change, it may be necessary to edit the /etc/fstab file for the /boot mount.

Kernel 2.6.18

• Stable OpenVZ
• Stable KVM (Note: no scsi emulation for guests, only IDE and VIRTIO)

How to install 2.6.18

aptitude update
aptitude safe-upgrade
aptitude install proxmox-ve-2.6.18

To make sure that you boot into the new kernel, check /boot/grub/menu.lst. Now reboot and check if the system is running the right kernel.

Kernel 2.6.24

• OpenVZ
• KVM

How to install 2.6.24

aptitude update
aptitude safe-upgrade
aptitude install proxmox-ve-2.6.24

To make sure that you boot into the new kernel, check /boot/grub/menu.lst. Now reboot and check if the system is running the right kernel.

Kernel 2.6.32

• Latest KVM with KSM (shares identical memory pages, especially useful when running multiple guests from the same or similar base operating system image. Because memory is shared, the combined memory usage of the guests is reduced)
• This kernel has currently no OpenVZ support (but should be available later this year)

How to install 2.6.32

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get install proxmox-ve-2.6.32

To make sure that you boot into the new kernel, check /boot/grub/menu.lst. Now reboot and check if the system is running the right kernel.