
Live patching is a way of updating a Linux kernel without interruption. Because kernel updates don’t take effect until the system is rebooted, Linux kernel live patching is most commonly used to patch severe Linux kernel vulnerabilities without rebooting servers.
Aside from improved service continuity and uptime, organizations with large server fleets also use live patching to avoid the administrative overhead associated with the coordination and planning needed to reboot multiple systems.
This tutorial will show how to use Kpatch to change the behavior of a running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa kernel without stopping it, changing the contents of /proc/uptime
(and the uptime
command) so that the system’s reported uptime is 10 years greater.
Continue reading “Developer Tutorial: Live patching Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa Linux kernel with Kpatch”