Re: [CentOS] upgrade question. - when to reboot

2009-01-15 Thread Michael Simpson
On 1/15/09, Kenneth Burgener kenn...@mail1.ttak.org wrote:
 On 1/9/2009 9:49 AM, Robert Nichols wrote:
 If a hard reboot is what you are attempting to avoid, with 'kexec' even
 the Linux kernel can be reloaded without a hardware reset.  This is
 convenient if you want to avoid the long system reset time.

 Kexec is a patch to the Linux kernel that allows you to boot directly
 to a new kernel from the currently running one. In the boot sequence
 described above, kexec skips the entire bootloader stage (the first
 part) and directly jumps into the kernel that we want to boot to. There
 is no hardware reset, no firmware operation, and no bootloader involved.
 The weakest link in the boot sequence -- that is, the firmware -- is
 completely avoided. The big gain from this feature is that system
 reboots are now extremely fast. For enterprise-class systems, kexec
 drastically reduces reboot-related system downtime. For kernel and
 system software developers, kexec helps you quickly reboot your system
 during development or testing efforts without having to go through the
 costly firmware stage every time. [1]


if you really have to have as perfect an uptime as possible then you
can actually patch a running kernel using ksplice

http://www.ksplice.com/

should only be used for critical security updates but useful nonetheless

mike
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Re: [CentOS] upgrade question. - when to reboot

2009-01-15 Thread Brian
Michael Simpson wrote:
 if you really have to have as perfect an uptime as possible then you
 can actually patch a running kernel using ksplice

 http://www.ksplice.com/

 should only be used for critical security updates but useful nonetheless

 mike
 ___
   

Its not that I want a perfect uptime, I just want to
make sure I reboot when needed and not reboot when
it is not necessary. 

Thank you all for your input.
Brian.
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Re: [CentOS] upgrade question. - when to reboot

2009-01-14 Thread Kenneth Burgener
On 1/9/2009 9:49 AM, Robert Nichols wrote:
 Brian wrote:
   
 Is there a list of packages that after update require a reboot, other then 
 kernel?
 
 For updates other than the kernel, there is almost always an answer
 short of a full reboot.  But, finding that answer and being 100%
 certain that it is a complete answer can be a challenge, and is,
 say, bringing the system down to single-user mode momentarily all
 that much better than simply rebooting?

If a hard reboot is what you are attempting to avoid, with 'kexec' even 
the Linux kernel can be reloaded without a hardware reset.  This is 
convenient if you want to avoid the long system reset time.

Kexec is a patch to the Linux kernel that allows you to boot directly 
to a new kernel from the currently running one. In the boot sequence 
described above, kexec skips the entire bootloader stage (the first 
part) and directly jumps into the kernel that we want to boot to. There 
is no hardware reset, no firmware operation, and no bootloader involved. 
The weakest link in the boot sequence -- that is, the firmware -- is 
completely avoided. The big gain from this feature is that system 
reboots are now extremely fast. For enterprise-class systems, kexec 
drastically reduces reboot-related system downtime. For kernel and 
system software developers, kexec helps you quickly reboot your system 
during development or testing efforts without having to go through the 
costly firmware stage every time. [1]


Kenneth

[1] http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-kexec.html

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