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The Linux Kernel Archives

What is Linux?

Linux is a clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.

It has all the features you would expect in a modern fully-fledged Unix, including true multitasking, virtual memory, shared libraries, demand loading, shared copy-on-write executables, proper memory management, and multistack networking including IPv4 and IPv6.

Although originally developed first for 32-bit x86-based PCs (386 or higher), today Linux also runs on a multitude of other processor architectures, in both 32- and 64-bit variants.

New to Linux?

If you’re new to Linux, you don’t want to download the kernel, which is just a component in a working Linux system. Instead, you want what is called a distribution of Linux, which is a complete Linux system. There are numerous distributions available for download on the Internet as well as for purchase from various vendors; some are general-purpose, and some are optimized for specific uses. We currently have mirrors of several distributions available at https://mirrors.kernel.org/.

Note, however, that most distributions are very large (several gigabytes), so unless you have a fast Internet link you may want to save yourself some hassle and purchase a CD-ROM with a distribution; such CD-ROMs are available from a number of vendors.

Mailing lists

The Linux kernel is discussed on the linux-kernel mailing list at vger.kernel.org. Please read the FAQ before subscribing.

Although there is no official archive site, unofficial archives of the list can be found at:

Other resources

Social

This site is operated by the Linux Kernel Organization, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, with support from the following sponsors.

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The Linux Kernel Archives

There are several main categories into which kernel releases may fall:

Prepatch Prepatch or «RC» kernels are mainline kernel pre-releases that are mostly aimed at other kernel developers and Linux enthusiasts. They must be compiled from source and usually contain new features that must be tested before they can be put into a stable release. Prepatch kernels are maintained and released by Linus Torvalds. Mainline Mainline tree is maintained by Linus Torvalds. It’s the tree where all new features are introduced and where all the exciting new development happens. New mainline kernels are released every 2-3 months. Stable After each mainline kernel is released, it is considered «stable.» Any bug fixes for a stable kernel are backported from the mainline tree and applied by a designated stable kernel maintainer. There are usually only a few bugfix kernel releases until next mainline kernel becomes available — unless it is designated a «longterm maintenance kernel.» Stable kernel updates are released on as-needed basis, usually once a week. Longterm There are usually several «longterm maintenance» kernel releases provided for the purposes of backporting bugfixes for older kernel trees. Only important bugfixes are applied to such kernels and they don’t usually see very frequent releases, especially for older trees.

Longterm release kernels

Version	Maintainer	Released	Projected EOL
5.10	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2020-12-13	Dec, 2026
5.4	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2019-11-24	Dec, 2025
4.19	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2018-10-22	Dec, 2024
4.14	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2017-11-12	Jan, 2024
4.9	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2016-12-11	Jan, 2023
4.4	Greg Kroah-Hartman & Sasha Levin	2016-01-10	Feb, 2022

Distribution kernels

Many Linux distributions provide their own «longterm maintenance» kernels that may or may not be based on those maintained by kernel developers. These kernel releases are not hosted at kernel.org and kernel developers can provide no support for them.

It is easy to tell if you are running a distribution kernel. Unless you downloaded, compiled and installed your own version of kernel from kernel.org, you are running a distribution kernel. To find out the version of your kernel, run uname -r :

If you see anything at all after the dash, you are running a distribution kernel. Please use the support channels offered by your distribution vendor to obtain kernel support.

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The Linux Kernel documentation¶

This is the top level of the kernel’s documentation tree. Kernel documentation, like the kernel itself, is very much a work in progress; that is especially true as we work to integrate our many scattered documents into a coherent whole. Please note that improvements to the documentation are welcome; join the linux-doc list at vger.kernel.org if you want to help out.

Licensing documentation¶

The following describes the license of the Linux kernel source code (GPLv2), how to properly mark the license of individual files in the source tree, as well as links to the full license text.

User-oriented documentation¶

The following manuals are written for users of the kernel — those who are trying to get it to work optimally on a given system.

Firmware-related documentation¶

The following holds information on the kernel’s expectations regarding the platform firmwares.

Application-developer documentation¶

The user-space API manual gathers together documents describing aspects of the kernel interface as seen by application developers.

Introduction to kernel development¶

These manuals contain overall information about how to develop the kernel. The kernel community is quite large, with thousands of developers contributing over the course of a year. As with any large community, knowing how things are done will make the process of getting your changes merged much easier.

Kernel API documentation¶

These books get into the details of how specific kernel subsystems work from the point of view of a kernel developer. Much of the information here is taken directly from the kernel source, with supplemental material added as needed (or at least as we managed to add it — probably not all that is needed).

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Ubuntu kernels from Canonical

At the core of the Ubuntu operating system is the Linux kernel, which manages and controls the hardware resources like I/O (networking, storage, graphics and various user interface devices, etc.), memory and CPU for your device or computer. It is one of the first software programs a booting device loads and runs on the central processing unit (CPU). The Linux kernel manages the system’s hardware environment so other programs like the operating system’s user space programs and application software programs can run well without modification on a variety of different platforms and without needing to know very much about that underlying system.

Identifying a kernel

The easiest way to determine the kernel you’re running is to type cat /proc/version_signature on the terminal. For example:

Ubuntu 5.4.0-12.15-generic 5.4.8

This output provides important information about the kernel:

• Canonical adds » Ubuntu «
• Ubuntu kernel-release = 5.4.0-12.15-generic
  • kernel version is 5.4 , which is identical to upstream stable kernel version
  • .0 is an obsolete parameter left over from older upstream kernel version naming practices
  • -12 application binary interface (ABI) bump for this kernel
  • .15 upload number for this kernel
  • -generic is kernel flavour parameter, where -generic is the default Ubuntu kernel flavour
• Mainline kernel-version = 5.4.8

Kernel and OS releases

Canonical provides long-term support (LTS) kernels for Ubuntu LTS releases. Canonical also provides interim operating system releases with updated kernels every 6 months.

For customers and business partners that don’t have specialised bleeding-edge workloads or latest hardware needs, the latest LTS release «-generic» kernel is the best option for them such as the 4.15 default kernel in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Customers who need the latest hardware support capability can install the latest HWE kernel such as the ones contained in interim releases, keeping in mind the shorter support lifespan associated with these kernels (9 months). HWE kernel customers are recommended to upgrade to a newer LTS release that supports their hardware and/or software needs as soon as it is available. Another option for customers is to use point releases. For example, there is an 18.04.4 point release as of February 2020, which includes an updated 5.3.x kernel but is also considered LTS, exactly like the original GA 4.15 kernel in 18.04.

Kernel security

The Canonical Kernel Team’s primary focus is the careful maintenance of kernels and their variants for regular delivery via the Ubuntu SRU process and the Canonical livepatch service. This includes rigorous management of all Linux kernel Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) lists (with a focus on patching all high and critical CVEs) review and application of all relevant patches for all critical and serious kernel defects in the mailing lists and then rigorously testing newly updated kernels end-to-end each SRU cycle.

General Availability (GA) and variant Ubuntu kernels

The complete functionality of any given kernel is determined by the included modules and the kernel configuration for both hardware and the expected workloads that are run on it.

Kernel modules are binary programs that extend a kernel’s ability to control the computing system’s hardware or add additional system capabilities like high-performance networking or non-standard graphics, etc. The GA kernel that is shipped by default, with the Canonical Ubuntu Long Term Support (LTS) and Hardware Enablement (HWE) releases, are tuned for stable, reliable, secure, high-performance operation over a wide variety of hardware platforms and workloads.

A kernel variant is a kernel that deviates from the generic GA kernel by changes to its configuration, and/or by having modules added and/or removed.

Custom kernels

Canonical advocates for customers to use the GA kernel shipped with Ubuntu as the best and most cost-effective option in their business environment. We also offer the option for customers to customize their own Ubuntu kernels. Several of our enterprise, Telco and cloud provider customers have systems and workload needs, which justify both the time investment to optimise their kernels and the pay to develop and maintain those custom kernels over time.

© 2021 Canonical Ltd. Ubuntu and Canonical are registered trademarks of Canonical Ltd.

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3 Ways to Check Linux Kernel Version in Command Line

Last updated October 29, 2020 By Abhishek Prakash 25 Comments

Brief: Wondering which Linux kernel version your system uses? Here are several ways to check your kernel version in the Linux terminal.

You may find yourself in a situation where you need to know the exact Linux kernel version being used on your system. Thanks to the powerful Linux command line, you can easily find that out.

Quick way to check Linux kernel version

You can use the following command to get the Linux kernel version:

uname -r

There are other ways to get even more detailed information about kernel. Read the rest of the article to learn it in detail.

In this article, I’ll show you various methods for finding out your kernel version and tell you what those numbers actually mean. If you prefer videos, here’s a quick one. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Linux tips.

How to find Linux kernel version

I am using Ubuntu while writing this article. But these commands are generic and can be used on Fedora, Debian, CentOS, SUSE Linux or any other Linux distribution.

1. Find Linux kernel using uname command

uname is the Linux command for getting system information. You can also use it to find out whether you’re using a 32-bit or 64-bit system.

Open a terminal and type in the following command:

The output will be something similar to this:

This means that you’re running Linux kernel 4.4.0-97, or in more generic terms, you are running Linux kernel version 4.4.

But what do the other digits mean here? Let me explain:

• 4 – Kernel version
• 4 – Major revision
• 0 – Minor revision
• 97 – Bug fix
• generic – Distribution-specific string. For Ubuntu, it means I’m using the desktop version. For Ubuntu server edition, it would be ‘server’.

You can also use the uname command with the option -a. This will provide more system information if you need it.

The output of the command should like this:

Let me explain the output and what it means:

• Linux – Kernel name. If you run the same command on BSD or macOS, the result will be different.
• itsfoss – Hostname.
• 4.4.0-97-generic – Kernel release (as we saw above).
• #120-Ubuntu SMP Tue Sep 19 17:28:18 UTC 2017 – This means that Ubuntu has compiled 4.4.0-97-generic 120 times. A timestamp for the last compilation is also there.
• x86_64 – Machine architecture.
• x86_64 – Processor architecture.
• x86_64 – Operating system architecture (you can run a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit processor).
• GNU/Linux – Operating system (and no, it won’t show the distribution name).

But I’ll save you from information overload. Let’s see some other commands to find your Linux kernel version.

2. Find Linux kernel using /proc/version file

In Linux, you can also find the kernel information in the file /proc/version. Just look at the contents of this file:

You’ll see an output similar to what you saw with uname.

You can see the kernel version 4.4.0-97-generic here.

3. Find Linux kernel version using dmesg commad

dmesg is a powerful command used for writing kernel messages. It’s also very useful for getting system information.

Since dmesg provides an awful lot of information, you should normally use a command like less to read it. But since we’re here just to check the Linux kernel version, grepping on ‘Linux’ should give the desired output.

The output will have a few lines but you should be able to identify the Linux kernel version there easily.

How do you check your Linux kernel version and other information?

Of the three ways discussed here, I use uname all the time. It’s the most convenient.

What about you? Which command do you prefer for getting Linux kernel information?

Like what you read? Please share it with others.

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