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I have gone through many posts, and many threads of the last 30 minutes reading about Linux kernels. The problem I am having is I upgraded to the latest mainline kernel back when it fixed the processor exploits.

The kernel was unstable, and I had a lot of problems with programs. Now I would like to move to the latest STABLE kernel. There are many duplicate threads, but from my understanding the mainline kernels are not stable - but they are the latest. I would like to locate the latest stable kernel besides the LTS kernels.

Does apt-cache display the latest stable kernel?

When I run the command apt-cache linux-image I am presented with all of these:

View the list here

I could not post the list due to the limit of characters

I have chosen to install linux-image-4.15.0-041500rc7-generic - Linux kernel image for version 4.15.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP for now since it is listed, but I am unsure if this is even a stable kernel under their stable line?

Rhys
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  • Not quite sure what you mean by 'stable.' That term could mean several things, and our definition may differ from yours. – user535733 Jan 26 '18 at 22:34
  • software that runs consistently without crashing aka stable – Rhys Jan 26 '18 at 22:36
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    Anything with rc is NOT stable rather it is a release candidate. The most recent stable version is 14.14.15. See the instructions at: https://askubuntu.com/questions/119080/how-to-update-kernel-to-the-latest-mainline-version-without-any-distro-upgrade – WinEunuuchs2Unix Jan 27 '18 at 00:56
  • you probably mean apt-cache search linux-image – caduceus Sep 15 '19 at 14:41

2 Answers2

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For your release of Ubuntu,

  1. Ensure you have the -update and -security repositories enabled.

  2. sudo apt update (or sudo apt-get update)

  3. Install the linux-image-generic metapackage to install the latest kernel that is packaged and tested for your release of Ubuntu. The metapackage will pull in several dependencies including the actual kernel packages themselves.

    Using the metapackage will ensure you get upgrades as they become available.

Note that apt cannot remove kernels from other sources - you must clean up those yourself.

user535733
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Ubuntu Kernel Release Schedule
Ubuntu Kernel Release Schedule

Ubuntu Kernel Support Schedule
Ubuntu Kernel Support Schedule

ref Ubuntu Kernel Support and Schedules

karel
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AnJia
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