Day: October 8, 2007

kexec looks kool

Sorry, that’s probably more appropriate for a KDE app, and this most certainly ain’t one of those. IBM explains it far better than I can:

developerWorks: Even if your work doesn’t require you to reboot your Linux machine several times a day, waiting for a system to reboot can be a real drag. Enter kexec. Essentially, kexec is a fast reboot feature that lets you reboot to a new Linux kernel — without having to go through a bootloader. Faster reboot is a benefit even when uptime isn’t mission-critical — and a lifesaver for kernel and system software developers who need to reboot their machines several times a day.

Unfortunately kexec doesn’t unload your apps before loading the new kernel yet, but apparently that’s on the slate. Given that some of my servers are solid-but-cantankerous old farts that sometimes stall at the BIOS level when booting, this’ll be a boon when I want to reload them remotely.