Ksplice is an extension to Linux Operating System Kernel, which pushes the Kernel updates and patches to the system without the necessity of a system reboot. This technique is also called “Dynamic Software Updating”. Keeping the Kernal upto date is a real headache for a System Admin, as it needs regular server reboots that kills server uptime and service availability. Ksplice is very useful to reduce the admin effort in such cases.

Ksplice is very easy to install and maintain on the server. Also it is rather easy to push updates to the kernel and check the loaded kernel status. Ksplice is not a free product and you need to get a valid license first to install and use it on a server. Since Ksplice was acquired by Oracle, they do not seem to sell it to the public. They are kind of closed selling license and they bundle it with Oracle Linux for free nowadays.

To install Ksplice manually, go to http://www.ksplice.com/uptrack/manual-installation# and select , download and install the package corresponding to your distribution.

Some of the command line tool with Ksplice is outlined below.

uptrack-upgrade
Downloads and installs the latest Ksplice updates available for your system.

uptrack-install
Takes as arguments the update IDs to install, and installs them, downloading them if necessary.

uptrack-remove
Takes as arguments the update IDs to remove, and removes them.

uptrack-show
If invoked without additional arguments, shows the list of Ksplice updates currently installed. If update IDs are passed as arguments,
displays the status of those updates as well as the detailed information associated with them.

You may read more details about the command line tools at http://www.ksplice.com/uptrack/using#command-line

Unlike other Oracle take overs, they are still let Ksplice alone and it is working so far with the currently subscribed customers. Until it acts as it is, it will be a worth to add them to your system.

NixTree Solutions provides Free Ksplice with every Per Server Management Plans from Dec 2013, as the part of our Festive offer. We hope our new customers will enjoy the new free security add-ons ( SSL + Ksplice ) along with our services 🙂