Oracle Linux has recently unveiled UEK-next, an offering that combines upstream Linux kernels with Oracle Linux patches, allowing users to preview and test the latest Linux features and hardware support before their official release on Oracle Linux. This new feature will be included in Linux kernel version 6.8, providing the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) and simplifying the process for developers to explore the latest Linux kernels on their Oracle Linux 9 systems.
Greg Marsen, Oracle’s senior vice president of Linux kernel development, provided more details on this announcement in a blog post. UEK-next is not intended for production use and comes with limited support from Oracle. The company uses a Linux upstream continuous integration (LUCI) system to manage its Linux kernel patches, ensuring that all patches built into UEK are continually validated against the latest versions of Linux. This process serves as an early warning system for potential conflicts and encourages developers to stay informed about kernel developments.
LUCI allows patches that are not suitable for inclusion at the top level to be maintained separately while enabling quick adaptation to newer kernel versions. Developers are responsible for maintaining and updating patches within LUCI, and once code is merged upstream, it becomes part of the subsequent version of Linux.
Internally, Oracle uses LUCI to generate nightly builds of the Linux kernel, ensuring that patches are applied correctly and alerting developers to potential issues. After the announcement of UEK-next, the Oracle Linux blog published a post detailing the kernel configuration, emphasizing that examining the kernel configuration is crucial for discovering enabled features.
UEK-next kernel configurations are stored in the uek-rpm directory, organized by architectures. The settings for Intel and AMD platforms are located in uek-rpm/ol9/config-x86_64, while for ARM platforms, they are in uek-rpm/ol9/config-aarch64.
Users can access UEK-next through the Oracle Linux 9 yum repositories at yum.oracle.com/oracle-linux-9. Oracle Linux VirtualBox screenshots are available for those looking for a virtual machine environment, and developers are advised to install the development key before proceeding with the kernel installation.
Overall, UEK-next provides developers with a way to test their applications and workloads on the latest versions of Linux, helping them avoid operating system vendor lock-in.Oracle’s continuous integration approach with LUCI facilitates the process of testing upstream features on critical Oracle workloads before integrating them into UEK. The new offering signifies Oracle’s commitment to providing users with the opportunity to explore and utilize cutting-edge Linux technologies.
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https://www.infoq.com/news/2024/06/oracle-linux-uek-next/