Preserving kernel 6.14

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1

Hey everyone!
VMware supports only up to Fedora 42 kernel version 6.14:

I currently run these kernels, printed via rpc -q kernel:

kernel-6.16.10-200.fc42.x86_64
kernel-6.16.11-200.fc42.x86_64
kernel-6.17.4-200.fc42.x86_64

I do have working VMware instance (on 6.17.4) since I installed it when booted into kernel-6.14.0-63.fc42.x86_64 but I lost it after the latest update I made - after re-building kernel modules.

My question is whether I can re-install kernel-6.14.0-63.fc42.x86_64 and keep it from being deleted in future updates, or a way to run VMware on newer kernels.
I currently postpone the 43 update until I find a solution for this…

2 
sudo dnf downgrade kernel
sudo dnf config-manager setopt updates.excludepkgs=kernel\*
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3

Will downgrade kernel keep the latest kernel installed as well?
Or will I have to pick one?
Does sudo dnf config-manager setopt updates.excludepkgs=kernel\* protect it against updates via Discovery (KDE) as well?

4

You should probably avoid upgrading with the GUI until at least F44:
Talk: Package operations in GNOME Software fail, packagekitd uses a lot of CPU and spams the journal with errors if google-chrome repo is enabled - #3 by leigh123linux

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5

You can install the last 6.14 kernel from here: Making sure you're not a bot!. See the section x86_64.

Or find the kernel you want: Making sure you're not a bot!.

There is also a tool called koji-tool to interact with the build system, for example you can download all kernel packages in one step and then use dnf to install ( something like koji-tool download --arch=XX 'kernel-6.14.7*'

Be aware that 6.14 is EOL, no bug or security fixes will land there.

6

When I used Workstation Gnome tend to fall short in lots of aspects, Software was just one of them.
Seems like Discover of KDE actually does a good job and I like that it downloads and installs everything seperately (unlike dnf).
I guess that I’ll use dnf if that’s the only option tho.

So, will I be able to both keep 6.14 and latest (probably 6.17.X by now) if I use dnf downgrade?

7

I need it mainly to know that I have a fallback plan in case VMware stops working.
How would you run VMware on Fedora otherwise?

8

Fedora as host OS?

I would try to use a Linux native virtualization solution based on QEMU/KVM.

Virtual Machine Manager or Boxes would be the GUI apps implementation.
VirtualBox would also work and is available for f42/f43 from rpmfusion.

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9

You can versionlock

Example:

sudo dnf versionlock add $(rpm -qa kernel* |grep 6.17.5-300.fc43.x86_64)

to remove

sudo dnf versionlock clear
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10

I know actually… I’ve had my share with KVM/QEMU on Fedora (as a host ofc, I use it to virtualize other distros / servers) and virt manager.
The performance is actually better for linux guests but it requires too much manual set-ups and I want to focus on my work instead of virtualization & environment setup.
VMware deals with shared folders, networking and general management more smoothly imo

11

won’t work with kernels. Tried that a few months ago.