How To Install Ksplice on CentOS / RedHat

by lifeLinux on May 12, 2011

You can apply kernel updates using “yum” command or “apt-get” command line options. After each upgrade you need to reboot the server. How to skip reboot step and apply hotfixes to kernel without rebooting the server ?

What is Ksplice Uptrack?

Ksplice Uptrack is a subscription service that lets you apply 100% of the important kernel security updates released by your Linux vendor without rebooting.

Install Ksplice

First, you’ll need an access key. If you don’t have one, request a free trial.
Download the Ksplice Uptrack repository installation RPM package

[root@lifelinux ~]# wget https://www.ksplice.com/yum/uptrack/centos/ksplice-uptrack-release.noarch.rpm

To install, type the following command as root

[root@lifelinux ~]# rpm -ivh ksplice-uptrack-release.noarch.rpm
[root@lifelinux ~]# yum -y install uptrack

Edit /etc/uptrack/uptrack.conf, enter 

[root@lifelinux ~]# vi /etc/uptrack/uptrack.conf

Sample outputs

[Auth]
accesskey = [ACCESS KEY HERE]

[Network]
# Proxy to use when accessing the Uptrack server, of the form
# [protocol://][:port]

# The proxy must support making HTTPS connections. If this is unset,
# Uptrack will look for the https_proxy, HTTPS_PROXY, and http_proxy
# environment variables in that order, and then finally look for a
# proxy setting in the system-wide GConf database, if available.
https_proxy =

[Settings]
# Automatically install updates at boot time. If this is set, on
# reboot into the same kernel, Uptrack will re-install the same set of
# updates that were present before the reboot.
install_on_reboot = yes

# Options configuring the Uptrack cron job.
#
# GUI users will get all notices via the GUI and likely want to set
# the following cron options to "no".

# Cron job will install updates automatically
autoinstall = no

# Cron job will print a message when new updates are installed.
# This option is only relevant if autoinstall = yes
cron_output_install = no

# Cron job will print a message when new updates are available
cron_output_available = no

# Cron job will print a message when it encounters errors
cron_output_error = no

Insert your access key. Please use the same access key for all of your systems. If you would like Uptrack to automatically install rebootless kernel updates as they become available, set autoinstall = yes.

When you are done with your Uptrack configuration, please run the following command as root to bring your kernel up to date:

uptrack-upgrade -y

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