Linux kernel lts versions

Kernel

According to Wikipedia:

The Linux kernel is an open-source monolithic Unix-like computer operating system kernel.

Arch Linux is based on the Linux kernel. There are various alternative Linux kernels available for Arch Linux in addition to the latest stable kernel. This article lists some of the options available in the repositories with a brief description of each. There is also a description of patches that can be applied to the system’s kernel. The article ends with an overview of custom kernel compilation with links to various methods.

Kernel packages are installed onto the file system under /boot/ . To be able to boot into kernels, the boot loader has to be configured appropriately.

Contents

Officially supported kernels

Community support on forum and bug reporting is available for officially supported kernels.

• Stable — Vanilla Linux kernel and modules, with a few patches applied.

https://www.kernel.org/ || linux

• Hardened — A security-focused Linux kernel applying a set of hardening patches to mitigate kernel and userspace exploits. It also enables more upstream kernel hardening features than linux .

https://github.com/anthraxx/linux-hardened || linux-hardened

• Longterm — Long-term support (LTS) Linux kernel and modules.

https://www.kernel.org/ || linux-lts

• Zen Kernel — Result of a collaborative effort of kernel hackers to provide the best Linux kernel possible for everyday systems. Some more details can be found on https://liquorix.net (which provides kernel binaries based on Zen for Debian).

https://github.com/zen-kernel/zen-kernel || linux-zen

Compilation

Following methods can be used to compile your own kernel:

/Arch Build System Takes advantage of the high quality of existing linux PKGBUILD and the benefits of package management. /Traditional compilation Involves manually downloading a source tarball, and compiling in your home directory as a normal user.

Some of the listed packages may also be available as binary packages via Unofficial user repositories.

kernel.org kernels

• Git — Linux kernel and modules built using sources from Linus Torvalds’ Git repository

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git || linux-gitAUR

• Mainline — Kernels where all new features are introduced, released every 2-3 months.

https://www.kernel.org/ || linux-mainlineAUR

• Next — Bleeding edge kernels with features pending to be merged into next mainline release.

https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/linux-next.html || linux-next-gitAUR

• Longterm 4.4 — Long-term support (LTS) Linux 4.4 kernel and modules.

https://www.kernel.org/ || linux-lts44AUR

• Longterm 4.9 — Long-term support (LTS) Linux 4.9 kernel and modules.

https://www.kernel.org/ || linux-lts49AUR

• Longterm 4.14 — Long-term support (LTS) Linux 4.14 kernel and modules.

https://www.kernel.org/ || linux-lts414AUR

• Longterm 4.19 — Long-term support (LTS) Linux 4.19 kernel and modules.

https://www.kernel.org/ || linux-lts419AUR

• Longterm 5.4 — Long-term support (LTS) Linux 5.4 kernel and modules.

https://www.kernel.org/ || linux-lts54AUR

Unofficial kernels

• Aufs — The aufs-compatible linux kernel and modules, useful when using docker.

http://aufs.sourceforge.net/ || linux-aufsAUR

• Ck — Contains patches by Con Kolivas (including the MuQSS scheduler) designed to improve system responsiveness with specific emphasis on the desktop, but they are suitable to any workload.

http://ck.kolivas.org/ || linux-ckAUR

• Clear — Patches from Intel’s Clear Linux project. Provides performance and security optimizations.

https://github.com/clearlinux-pkgs/linux || linux-clearAUR

• GalliumOS — The Linux kernel and modules with GalliumOS patches for Chromebooks.

https://github.com/GalliumOS/linux || linux-galliumosAUR

• Libre — Without propietary or obfuscated device drivers.

https://www.fsfla.org/ikiwiki/selibre/linux-libre/ || linux-libreAUR

• Liquorix — Kernel replacement built using Debian-targeted configuration and the Zen kernel sources. Designed for desktop, multimedia, and gaming workloads, it is often used as a Debian Linux performance replacement kernel. Damentz, the maintainer of the Liquorix patchset, is a developer for the Zen patchset as well.

https://liquorix.net || linux-lqxAUR

• MultiPath TCP — The Linux Kernel and modules with Multipath TCP support.

https://multipath-tcp.org/ || linux-mptcpAUR

• pf-kernel — Provides a handful of awesome features which are not merged into a kernel mainline. Maintained by a kernel engineer. If the port for the included patch for new kernels was not released officially, the patchset provides and supports patch ports to new kernels. The current most prominent patches of linux-pf are PDS CPU scheduler and UKSM.

https://gitlab.com/post-factum/pf-kernel/wikis/README || Packages:

• Repository by pf-kernel developer post-factum
• Repository, linux-pfAUR , linux-pf-preset-defaultAUR by pf-kernel fork developer Thaodan
• linux-pf-gitAUR by yurikoles

• Realtime kernel — Maintained by a small group of core developers led by Ingo Molnar. This patch allows nearly all of the kernel to be preempted, with the exception of a few very small regions of code («raw_spinlock critical regions»). This is done by replacing most kernel spinlocks with mutexes that support priority inheritance, as well as moving all interrupt and software interrupts to kernel threads.

https://wiki.linuxfoundation.org/realtime/start || linux-rtAUR , linux-rt-ltsAUR

• tkg — A highly customizable kernel build system that provides a selection of patches and tweaks aiming for better desktop and gaming performance. It is maintained by Etienne Juvigny. Amongst other patches, it offers various CPU schedulers: CFS, Project C PDS, Project C BMQ, MuQSS and CacULE.

https://github.com/Frogging-Family/linux-tkg || not packaged? search in AUR

• VFIO — The Linux kernel and a few patches written by Alex Williamson (acs override and i915) to enable the ability to do PCI Passthrough with KVM on some machines.

https://lwn.net/Articles/499240/ || linux-vfioAUR , linux-vfio-ltsAUR

• XanMod — Aiming to take full advantage in high-performance workstations, gaming desktops, media centers and others and built to provide a more rock-solid, responsive and smooth desktop experience. This kernel uses the MuQSS or CacULE scheduler, BFQ I/O scheduler, UKSM realtime memory data deduplication, TCP BBR congestion control, x86_64 advanced instruction set support, and other default changes.

https://xanmod.org/ || linux-xanmodAUR , linux-xanmod-caculeAUR

Debugging regressions

Try linux-mainline AUR to check if the issue is already fixed upstream. The stickied comment also mentions a repository which contains already built kernels, so it may not be necessary to build it manually, which can take some time.

It may also be worth considering trying the LTS kernel ( linux-lts ) to debug issues which did not appear recently. Older versions of the LTS kernel can be found in the Arch Linux Archive.

If the issue still persists, bisect linux-git AUR and report the bug on the kernel bugzilla. It is important to try the «vanilla» version without any patches to make sure it is not related to them. If a patch causes the issue, report it to the author of the patch.

Источник

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 Archives

If you have questions, comments or concerns about the F.A.Q. please contact us at webmaster@kernel.org.

Is Linux Kernel Free Software?

Linux kernel is released under GNU GPL version 2 and is therefore Free Software as defined by the Free Software Foundation. You may read the entire copy of the license in the COPYING file distributed with each release of the Linux kernel.

What does «stable/EOL» and «longterm» mean?

As kernels move from the «mainline» into the «stable» category, two things can happen:

1. They can reach «End of Life» after a few bugfix revisions, which means that kernel maintainers will release no more bugfixes for this kernel version, or
2. They can be put into «longterm» maintenance, which means that maintainers will provide bugfixes for this kernel revision for a much longer period of time.

If the kernel version you are using is marked «EOL,» you should consider upgrading to the next major version as there will be no more bugfixes provided for the kernel version you are using.

Please check the Releases page for more info.

Why is an LTS kernel marked as «stable» on the front page?

Long-term support («LTS») kernels announced on the Releases page will be marked as «stable» on the front page if there are no other current stable kernel releases. This is done to avoid breaking automated parsers monitoring kernel.org with an expectation that there will always be a kernel release marked as «stable.»

Linus has tagged a new release, but it’s not listed on the front page!

Linus Torvalds PGP-signs git repository tags for all new mainline kernel releases, however a separate set of PGP signatures needs to be generated by the stable release team in order to create downloadable tarballs. Due to timezone differences between Linus and the members of the stable team, there is usually a delay of several hours between when the new mainline release is tagged and when PGP-signed tarballs become available. The front page is updated once that process is completed.

Is there an RSS feed for the latest kernel version?

We also publish a .json file with the latest release information, which you can pull from here: https://www.kernel.org/releases.json.

Why are there files that are dated tomorrow?

All timestamps on kernel.org are in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). If you live in the western hemisphere your local time lags behind UTC. Under Linux/Unix, type date -u to get the current time in UTC.

Can I get an account on kernel.org?

Kernel.org accounts are usually reserved for subsystem maintainers or high-profile developers. It is absolutely not necessary to have an account on kernel.org to contribute to the development of the Linux kernel, unless you submit pull requests directly to Linus.

If you are listed in the MAINTAINERS file or have reasons to believe you should have an account on kernel.org because of the amount of your contributions, please refer to the accounts wiki page for the procedure to follow.

I have cool project X, can you guys mirror it for me?

Probably not. Kernel.org deals with the Linux kernel, various distributions of the kernel and larger repositories of packages. We do not mirror individual projects, software, etc as we feel there are better places providing mirrors for those kinds of repositories. If you feel that kernel.org should mirror your project, please contact ftpadmin@kernel.org with the following information:

• name
• project name
• project website
• detailed project description
• reason for wanting us to mirror

The Kernel.org admin team will then review your request and talk to you about it. As with any kind of account on kernel.org it’s up to the discretion of the admin team.

How does kernel.org provide its users access to the git trees?

We are using an access control system called gitolite, originally written and maintained by Sitaram Chamarty. We chose gitolite for a number of reasons:

• Limiting of ssh access to the system
• Fine grained control over repository access
• Well maintained and supported code base
• Responsive development
• Broad and diverse install base

As well at the time of deployment the code had undergone an external code review.

How do I create an -rc kernel? I get «Reversed patch detected!»

-rc kernel patches are generated from the base stable release.

For example: to create the 2.6.14-rc5 kernel, you must:

• download 2.6.13 (not 2.6.13.4)
• and then apply the 2.6.14-rc5 patch.

Yes, you want 2.6.13, not 2.6.14. Remember, that’s an -rc kernel, as in, 2.6.14 doesn’t exist yet. 🙂

Where can I find kernel 2.4.20-3.16?

Kernel version numbers of this form are distribution kernels, meaning they are modified kernels produced by distributions. Please contact the relevant distributor; or check out https://mirrors.kernel.org/.

See the Releases page for more info on distribution kernels.

I need help building/patching/fixing Linux kernel/modules/drivers!

Please see the Kernel Newbies website.

There is also a wealth of knowledge on many topics involving Linux at The Linux Documentation Project (http://www.tldp.org)

For finding or reporting bugs, look through the archives for the various Linux mailing lists, and if no specific list seems appropriate, try the browsing the Linux Kernel Mailing List.

What happened to ftp.kernel.org?

FTP service was terminated on March 1, 2017. All content that used to be available via ftp.kernel.org can be accessed by browsing https://www.kernel.org/pub/. If you would like to use a command-line tool for accessing these files, you can do so with lftp:

When will the next kernel be released?

The next kernel will be released when it is ready. There is no strict timeline for making releases, but if you really need an educated guess, visit the Linux kernel PHB Crystal Ball — it tries to provide a ballpark guess based on previous kernel release schedule.

What will go into the next release?

It is hard to predict with certainty, but you can either take a peek at linux-next or read the Linux Weather Forecast, where Jonathan Corbet provides a broad forecast of what will likely be included into the next mainline release.

Other resources

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