Updating Kernel of more than 50 servers

[BlaZe]

Just wanted to know how the experts here manage to update the kernels on their servers (fleet of servers)?

Sure, for 4-5 servers its fine to do it manually and then reboot. A cron job can also be setup for yum update -y && reboot

But lets say there are more than 100+ servers which are used in the provision of hundreds/thousands of VPS to clients, so, how does the kernel update process is handled?

It would really help in getting some insights for it.

I am aware of KernelCare but is it worth for +100 servers? Some say its not that efficient and still a reboot maybe required for some kernel updates.

[Harambe]

@BlaZe

But lets say there are more than 100+ servers which are used in the provision of hundreds/thousands of VPS to clients, so, how does the kernel update process is handled?

Paying customers? KernelCare.

@BlaZe

Some say its not that efficient and still a reboot maybe required for some kernel updates.

Schedule downtime for the updates. Give people a few days heads up that servers will be rebooted at a certain time for security patches to be applied.

[Munzy]

You could also use something like https://www.ansible.com/.

[BlaZe]

@Harambe

Paying customers? KernelCare.

Some say its not that efficient and still a reboot maybe required for some kernel updates.

@Harambe

Schedule downtime for the updates. Give people a few days heads up that servers will be rebooted at a certain time for security patches to be applied.

This is what we currently follow.

Sometimes, clients do not respond to the emails to clear the way for a reboot. At such times it becomes difficult.

I’ll be going with KernelCare though, was just wondering if there are any other ways to have this done.

@Munzy, will have to dig into Anisble thanks!