Oracle UEK7 is released!
Do you want to upgrade your older Linux system's kernel? You have a fantastic option if you're using Enterprise Linux 8 or 9. You can upgrade to the UEK kernel!
If you're using a Red Hat Kernel (also known as Red Hat compatible kernel or RHCK), chances are you have an outdated kernel version. It's worth noting that the Linux 4.18 kernel was released back in August 2018 and is not the Long Term release version for 4 - that would be 4.19. Instead of supporting LTS, Red Hat manually backports 4.19 patches into their 4.18 kernel build. This approach has several drawbacks, including slower patch delivery, lack of support for newer hardware, and performance limitations.
Even if you are running on Enterprise Linux 9, you could be on an older kernel! As with 4.18, Red Hat used 5.14 instead of the 5.15 LTS Kernel. The following table shows what kernel was introduced at launch and what version you could use with UEK7.
|
Distro Version
|
Release RHCK Kernel Version
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UEK 7 Kernel
|
|
Enterprise Linux 8
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4.18
|
5.15
|
|
Enterprise Linux 8 – UEK
|
5.4 at release
|
5.15
|
|
Enterprise Linux 9
|
5.14
|
5.15
|
|
Enterprise Linux 9 – UEK
|
5.15
|
5.15
|
With UEK7, you get a more updated Kernel. By being based on the LTS 5.15 Kernel, support is planned for many years. The UEK Kernels consistently give better performance vs the RHCK kernel, giving your application a performance boost. This new Kernel version gives you several advantages and new features like:
Extended Support – UEK 7 is based on the LTS 5.15 Kernel, with support planned through October 2026. Most Linux Kernels are only officially supported for 2-3 months! The 5.15 kernel also gives you enhancements to the XFS and BTRFS filesystems, WireGuard VPN performance, CPU scheduling improvements, and I/O enhancements.
Support for aarch64 – This is perfect for Arm-based servers on-premises and in the cloud. This gives you all the same features and tools in the x64 version, allowing you to easily adapt Arm processors to take advantage of their lower cost and more efficient energy usage. This lower energy footprint reduces the carbon footprint of these platforms, making this a great option for our planet.
DTrace 2.0 – A new major release of DTrace, making it even easier to monitor the internals of the kernel and your application. This is a great tool to help troubleshoot performance issues more easily, identifying slow storage, memory leaks, and more.
Improved Security – UEK7 introduces Core scheduling - a new feature that isolates groups of processes running on the same core, providing maximum protection against side-channel attacks. This is a useful way to prevent Spectra-class vulnerability attacks while enabling Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) and avoiding any performance penalty that may arise from disabling SMT.
Are you interested in improving your system performance and security? Please reach out to your Mythics Account Executive to schedule a free review of your Linux footprint. Mythics has experience moving both small and large organizations to UEK, improving performance, and reducing your IT spending, and we are happy to have a conversation to see how we can help your organization as well.
