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Systems & Data Center · Foundational

Linux Kernel

The core of the Linux operating system that manages CPU scheduling, memory, devices, filesystems and networking.

Definition

The kernel runs in privileged mode and exposes services to user space through system calls. It is modular, loading drivers as kernel modules on demand. uname -r shows the running kernel version.

Example

uname -r returns 5.14.0-427.el9.x86_64 on a RHEL 9 server.

Exam tip

After a kernel update, a reboot is required to run the new kernel unless live patching is used.

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