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Last week a person created a ubuntu 18.04 LTS in Amazon Cloud (AWS) to match my home Linux. Somehow when I logged into it, I see very different kernel version.

AWS

aws$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=18.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=bionic
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 18.04.6 LTS"

aws$ uname -a
Linux aws 5.4.0-1078-aws #84~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jun 3 12:59:49 UTC 2022

Home

home$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=18.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=bionic
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS"

home$ uname -a
Linux home 4.15.0-112-generic #113-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jul 9 23:41:39 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I can understand if minor version changed due to upgrade, eg, 4.15 vs 4.22. But this is a major version difference: 4 vs 5. Will my binary executable still be portable?

oldpride
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    Ubuntu 18.04 LTS using the GA kernel stack uses 4.15, using the HWE kernel stack it is 5.4 (being the GA kernel stack from 20.04). See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack but other OEM kernel stack options exist too. – guiverc Sep 17 '22 at 00:16
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    Does this answer your question? How can I disable hwe-support on ubuntu 18.04? – guiverc Sep 17 '22 at 00:17
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    FYI: If your system reports as 18.04.2, you're behind on upgrades though so check that. A fully upgraded system should report as 18.04.6 as your AWS example shows... FYI: At 18.04.2 the HWE kernel was 4.18 (being the kernel from 18.10), final HWE kernel for 18.04.5 & later being 5.4 from 20.04.. Installation media used sets the default kernel stack but it can be changed – guiverc Sep 17 '22 at 00:19

1 Answers1

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Ubuntu 18.04 LTS using the GA kernel stack uses 4.15, using the HWE kernel stack it is 5.4 (being the GA kernel stack from 20.04).

See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack for more details, with other OEM kernel stack options existing too. The installation media used determines the default kernel stack used.

FYI: If your system reports as 18.04.2, you're behind on upgrades though so I'd check that. A fully upgraded system should report as 18.04.6 as your AWS example shows... At 18.04.2 the HWE kernel was 4.18 (being the kernel from 18.10), final HWE kernel for 18.04.5 & later being 5.4 from 20.04..

guiverc
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  • Thank you for your reply. I didn't realize this opened a can of worms. The amount of information is overwhelming. I almost upgraded my home Linux to HWE before I noticed so many posts regarding how to get out of HWE. I am very nervous about what HWE will do to my home Linux. – oldpride Sep 17 '22 at 01:16
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    On many of my home machines I have both (GA & HWE) stacks installed as costs are low being more to upgrade (both get fixes), slightly more disk space used but more choice & greater chance to troubleshoot (most for others not myself). On much older hardware I tend to find GA kernel is generally better, on newer hardware its HWE; but for most its identical. If using closed-source (proprietary) kernel modules (nvidia etc) both may not be able to co-exist; but I mostly use all open source anyway. Having choice gives us more options & Ubuntu LTS provides that choice. – guiverc Sep 17 '22 at 02:07