I am using Archlinux as a server for my infrastructure. Does anyone have experience with ignoring kernel upgrades on Archlinux for a while? If so, how do you decide on what kernel release you are staying? If you upgrade the kernel, have you found a way to circumvent having to restart the machine?
I just using the linux-lts kernel on servers
I use the LTS kernel on my Arch server, but I don’t ignore kernel upgrades. I just leave it up until I can schedule some downtime for a reboot. Depending on how fast releases happen, there have been a few times where I didn’t reboot for 2 or 3 kernel upgrades. Hasn’t ever been a problem for me personally.
Maybe take a look at this: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel_live_patching
LTS kernel would help a little, but it also still receives updates.
Why are you running Arch on a server if you are concerned with frequent updates, though?
I am not at all concerned with frequent updates, I do want them. The thing with the Kernel is, for some applications you need to reboot to make the update complete. E.g. libvirts default network doesn’t work when you upgrade the kernel but don’t reboot, with docker I also had problems. I just want to minimize downtime.
I will likely try to achive a setup with a clustered file system and two physical servers for failover