Ksplice

Ksplice
Developer(s)Ksplice, Inc.
Initial release23 April 2008 (2008-04-23)[1]
Stable release
1.0.35
Operating systemLinux
TypeKernel extension
LicenseGNU GPL version 2[2][3]
Websitewww.ksplice.com

Ksplice is an open-source[2][3] extension of the Linux kernel that allows security patches to be applied to a running kernel without the need for reboots, avoiding downtimes and improving availability (a technique broadly referred to as dynamic software updating). Ksplice supports only the patches that do not make significant semantic changes to kernel's data structures.[4]

Ksplice has been implemented for Linux on the x86-64 and AArch64 architectures.[5] It was developed by Ksplice, Inc. until 21 July 2011, when Oracle acquired Ksplice and then offered support for Oracle Linux. Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux was dropped and turned into a free 30-day trial for RHEL customers as an incentive to migrate to Oracle Linux Premier Support.[6][7]

Ksplice is today offered on the two kernel flavors distributed with Oracle Linux:

As of July 2015, Ksplice is available for free on desktop Linux installations, with official support available for Ubuntu Linux distribution.[8]

  1. ^ Arnold, Jeff (23 April 2008). "A system for rebootless kernel security updates". LKML (Mailing list). Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Ksplice Uptrack Subscription Agreement". ksplice.com. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  3. ^ a b "ksplice 0.9.9.1 source code, README file". oss.oracle.com. 28 July 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2014. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2.
  4. ^ "Ubuntu Manpage: ksplice-create – Create a set of kernel modules for a rebootless kernel". manpages.ubuntu.com. 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  5. ^ "Ksplice Users Guide: Available Architectures" (PDF). docs.oracle.com. 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Free 30-day trial of Ksplice Zero-Downtime Updates for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Customers". Ksplice.
  7. ^ "Customer Letter Oracle and Ksplice". Oracle. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  8. ^ "Oracle Ksplice Free Desktop Edition". Oracle Ksplice. Oracle. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015. Oracle Ksplice is offered for free on Fedora and Ubuntu Desktop Editions.