I had read from several news sources that Ubuntu 16.04.2 would come with Linux 4.8. My system was upgraded from Ubuntu 16.04.1 to Ubuntu 16.04.2 this week-end, but I still had Linux 4.4.
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cat /etc/lsb-release DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu DISTRIB_RELEASE=16.04 DISTRIB_CODENAME=xenial DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS" uname -a Linux FX8350 4.4.0-62-generic #83-Ubuntu SMP Wed Jan 18 14:10:15 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux |
So I wondered why that was, and eventually found my answer on Reddit thanks to EndofLineLF user:
If it isn’t a new 16.04.2 installation then you won’t have newer kernel.
If your install started as 16.04 or 16.04.1 then with all updates installed “lsb_release” will display 16.04.2 as version because that’s what you have.
The switch to HWE (Hardware Enablement Stack) was never automatic. So if you want newer kernel you have to install it manually.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/RollingLTSEnablementStack#Packages-1
sudo apt-get install –install-recommends xserver-xorg-hwe-16.04This will also install the new HWE kernel because it is recommended for that package.
Upgrading to the new kernel is completely optional, and Linux 4.4 will still get security updates, but I did it anyway, since I had an issue with the current Linux 4.4.62 kernel, although a fix with the next 4.4.63 release later this month. Anyway, I went ahead with:
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sudo apt install --install-recommends xserver-xorg-hwe-16.04 |
After a reboot, I could confirm linux 4.8.0-34 kernel was installed:
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cat /etc/lsb-release DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu DISTRIB_RELEASE=16.04 DISTRIB_CODENAME=xenial DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS" uname -a Linux FX8350 4.8.0-36-generic #36~16.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Sun Feb 5 09:39:57 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux |
If you run a Ubuntu 16.04 server installation, and want to upgrade to Linux 4.8, you may want to instead run:
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sudo apt install --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-16.04 linux-lowlatency-hwe-16.04 |
One important note: If you switch from Linux 4.4 (GA) to Linux 4.8 (HWE), you’ll lose support for Canonical Livepatch Service.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Uhm, 4.8 has been EOL for a month? The latest stable is 4.9.
I have had 4.8 running since october, no issues, but now I’m running 4.9, no problems either.
Manually installed though, from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/
I’m just wondering why Ubuntus recommending an EOL kernel, with no further updates…
Why do u recommend the lowlatency kernel for server systems?
@Funny
It was in the Ubuntu’s “Rolling LTE Enablement Stack” page, but you’re right, it may not be needed for most people.
Compile and use a monolithic kernel in servers. … keep away xservers in servers
@Stefan M
It’s very common for distributions to ship with kernels that are not supported by kernel.org anymore. In that case, they just have to provide kernel support themselves and backpot fixes, etc. Ubuntu 14.04 LTS shipped with kernel 3.13, for example, which never was a longterm kernel on kernel.org. Yet, Canonical still provides support for that kernel. This happens for other packages as well.
The HWE stack caused my computer with Intel Haswell i915 graphics to boot to a black screen. The commonly suggested “nomodeset” grub option locked my display at a very low resolution. I had to uninstall the 4.8 kernel and HWE xserver packages and reinstall the GA xserver packages with “apt install –reinstall ubuntu-desktop”.
@Anonymous
Ubuntu 14.04.5 ships by default with 4.4 kernel (from 16.04).
@Stane1983
When you install from the ISO, you’ll get the HWE kernel. So if I had installed Ubuntu 16.04.2 ISO, I’d have get Linux 4.18, but upgrading is different as you keep the LTS kernel, which for Xenial is 4.4.
Strange but I did not get 16.04.2 update to date, it’s still at 16.04.1.
@zgoda
You may be able to force it manually:
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
No luck, after dist-upgrade:
$ cat /etc/lsb-release | grep DESCRIPTION
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION=”Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS”
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
And I don’t see 16.04.2 download on Ubuntu.com page, only 16.04.1. Where did you get 16.04.2 from? 😀
@zgoda
I ran the two commands above. Ubuntu 16.04.2 is not available for download as ISO yet.
Maybe they pushed it on Feb 9, then decided to pull it out?
There have been numerous delays for Ubuntu 16.04.2, maybe it’s just another one.
@zgoda
Ubuntu 16.04.2 has now officially been released, and the ISO is up for download too.