Support on kernel-alt (el7a) packages

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 and earlier.
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux for ARM 64 (aarch64)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power 9 (ppc64le)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM System z (Structure A) (s390x)
  • kernel-alt (el7a)

Issue

  • I need a root-cause analysis on a reported failure for a system running kernel-alt.
  • Is kernel-alt supported?

Resolution

  • Please note that Red Hat currently offers limited support on systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 7 kernel-alt packages. Which does not include bug fixes, security fixes, hardware enablement or root-cause analysis.

  • For continued full support on systems running the kernel-alt, please consider switching from the kernel-alt to the latest standard kernel for RHEL 8 or 9.

Root Cause

  • Systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 7 kernel-alt packages are currently in their Extended Life Phase.

    NOTE: For versions of products in the Extended Life Phase, Red Hat will provide limited ongoing technical support. No bug fixes, security fixes, hardware enablement or root-cause analysis will be available during this phase, and limited support will be provided on existing installations only.

    Red Hat reserves the right to terminate the ongoing support in the Extended Life Phase for a particular version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux at any time.

  • To learn more, please refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle - Extended Life Phase

  • Prior to the release of RHEL 8, the kernel-alt on RHEL 7.4 to 7.6 versions, were made available as a temporary bridge for 4.x kernel features available on alternate architectures such as ARM-64, POWER9 & IBM System z.

    However, with the deployment of RHEL 8, alternate architectures (such as POWER9) no longer require the kernel-alt, as the base for RHEL 8 is already the 4.18 kernel.

Diagnostic Steps

You may use the uname -r command in order to verify if a system is running the kernel-alt (el7a):

Example from Red Hat Enterprise Linux for ARM 64:

# uname -r
4.14.0-115.33.1.el7a.aarch64
Example from Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power 9:

# uname -r
4.14.0-115.8.2.el7a.ppc64le
Example from Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM System z (Structure A):

# uname -r
4.14.0-115.36.1.el7a.s390x

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