Hello mates,
As you know, in arch Linux the kernel is updated frequently but, is mandatory or good practice reboot any time the kernel is updated?
Edit: Thank you guys for your replies
An update is only truly done once no remnants of the old code is in memory. Code can stick around in the form of binaries (restart the binaries), libraries (restart all binaries that use this library) and the kernel (reboot or use kexec).
One very simple way to make sure no old code sticks around is to reboot:-)
I’ve heard about Linux servers running for years. But surely they change kernel without a reboot? More of a curious question.
You don’t need to change kernel if the one you have works fine.
For gaming PCs you’re often running hardware that gets improved in the kernel often. For servers, as long as you’re not trying to squeeze every once of performance out of it you can get by with way behind bleeding edge kernels.
One of the easiest attack vectors to secure on a kernel is compiling all your modules directly into the kernel and disabling loadable kernel modules.
Once you’ve got a kernel that has all the bells and whistles you need compiled into it, it’s relatively mature enough to have it’s bugs worked out (like an LTS kernel that’s been out for a month or so), and you’ve applied proper system and kernel hardening configs, that server can run undisturbed for quite a while.
