Do I have to modify the default kernel to use it on amazon ec2?

pczhang · 2014-05-25 12:49:26

Hello,

I have a customized ami running on amazon ec2 with the most recent kernel. I saw various other arch linux ami's with modification on kernels. I wonder what I would lose by running the default kernel.

Thank you!

Best,
Peng

ANOKNUSA · 2014-05-25 14:11:52

Well, see, you have one kernel that contains customizations. You have another kernel with no customizations. If for each kernel you make a list of features, the differences between the lists would be the things you would lose in choosing the latter over the former.

Without clarifying your question, there's no way for anyone to give you a useful answer. What do you mean default kernel? What customizations have you applied? Why, exactly, do you want the Arch kernel?

pczhang · 2014-05-25 14:58:33

I am just running kernel from the base repository "core/linux 3.14.4-1 (base)". While everything seems "normal" to me running simulations with a 4-node ec2 cluster, I do have this error from system log - "xen:balloon: reserve_additional_memory: add_memory() failed: -17".

I tried a ami (ami-32c3235a) from https://www.uplinklabs.net/projects/arch-linux-on-ec2/, which is running a customized linux-lts. (The source link is down, so I don't know what exactly the patched kernel is.) Below is the repository.

[ec2]
SigLevel = PackageRequired
Server = https://s3.amazonaws.com/arch-linux-ami/repo/$arch

I am just wondering if it is essential to upgrade to these patched kernel. Does it hurt the server performance if I want to stay with kernel from the base repository.

Thanks!

ANOKNUSA · 2014-05-28 01:30:50

I can't say whether switching kernels in an EC2 instance will affect performance; the site you linked to is an unofficial project. You could contact the maintainer and ask about the choices that went into building the VMs. At a guess, linux-lts is used because it receives less-frequent updates than the stock kernel. Depending on upstream activity the stock kernel can be updated anywhere from once per month to once per week, thus requiring unpredictable reboots, and going more than a couple weeks without updating an Arch system isn't a good idea.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-05-25 12:49:26

Do I have to modify the default kernel to use it on amazon ec2?

#2 2014-05-25 14:11:52

Re: Do I have to modify the default kernel to use it on amazon ec2?

#3 2014-05-25 14:58:33

Re: Do I have to modify the default kernel to use it on amazon ec2?

#4 2014-05-28 01:30:50

Re: Do I have to modify the default kernel to use it on amazon ec2?

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