How To Install Linux Kernel 6.x on CentOS 9 Stream

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Linux Kernel on CentOS 9 Stream. For those of you who didn’t know, The Linux kernel is the core of the Linux operating system. It is responsible for managing the communication between the system’s hardware and software and provides the interfaces that allow applications to access the system’s resources. Upgrading to the latest version of the Linux kernel is an important step in keeping your CentOS Stream system up-to-date and secure.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the Linux Kernel 6.x on CentOS 9 Stream.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: CentOS 9 Stream.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• An active internet connection. You’ll need an internet connection to download the necessary packages and dependencies for Kernel.
• A non-root sudo user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Install Linux Kernel 6.x on CentOS 9 Stream

Step 1. First, let’s start by ensuring your system is up-to-date.

sudo dnf clean all
sudo dnf update

Step 2. Check Your Kernel.

Check the current kernel version by running the command:

uname -r

Step 3. Enable ELRepo.

Before updating your Kernel, import the public key and install the ELRepo RPM package using the below command:

rpm --import https://www.elrepo.org/RPM-GPG-KEY-elrepo.org
dnf install https://www.elrepo.org/elrepo-release-9.el9.elrepo.noarch.rpm

Once is done, run the following command to list the available kernel-related packages:

dnf --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="elrepo-kernel" list available

Output:

Available Packages
bpftool.x86_64                           6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml.x86_64                         6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-core.x86_64                    6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-devel.x86_64                   6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-devel-matched.x86_64           6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-doc.noarch                     6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-headers.x86_64                 6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-modules.x86_64                 6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-modules-extra.x86_64           6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-tools.x86_64                   6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-tools-libs.x86_64              6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
kernel-ml-tools-libs-devel.x86_64        6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
perf.x86_64                              6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel
python3-perf.x86_64                      6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo        elrepo-kernel

Step 4. Installing Linux Kernel 6.x on CentOS 9 Stream.

Now run the following command to install the latest mainline stable kernel to your CentOS Stream system:

dnf --enablerepo=elrepo-kernel install kernel-ml

Reboot the system to apply changes and check the new kernel version by running the command “uname -r” again:

uname -r

Output:

[root@idroot.us ~]# uname -sr
Linux 6.1.7-1.el9.elrepo.x86_64

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Linux Kernel. Thanks for using this tutorial to install Linux Kernel  6.x on CentOS 9 Stream. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Linux Kernel website.