I have an Ubuntu 10.04 VPS and recently realized that the 2.6 branch of kernels is now deprecated. I'm currently running the latest 2.6 kernel (2.6.39.1-linode34) on my VPS and was wondering if I should (and am I able to), update to the 3.0 kernel. This is a production box, so I don't want to risk breaking it.

If it's not broken, why dork with it?

Well if they're deprecated they won't be getting security fixes. 3.0 is just a continuation of the 2.x branch with a new number for the 3rd decade of the kernel, so go ahead and reboot away!

(disclaimer I don't use linode kernels so can't comment on performance or stability )

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That was my worry, that I wont be getting the latest security patches.

You can always reboot back into the old one if it breaks something, or if you're really paranoid you can clone your linode and boot the new one into 3.0 for a test.

_________________
Paid support
How to ask for help
1. Give details of your problem
2. Post any errors
3. Post relevant logs.
4. Don't hide details i.e. your domain, it just makes things harder
5. Be polite or you'll be eaten by a grue

Changed to the 3.0 kernel, rebooted my VPS and... everything went better than expected. No problems what so ever.