How to Upgrade CentOS 7 Kernel to the Latest 5.4 Version Using ELRepo

First, check the current kernel version:

# uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 3.10.0-1160.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Mon Oct 19 16:18:59 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

View the GRUB boot menu entries:

# awk -F' ' '$1=="menuentry " {print i++ " : " $2}' /etc/grub2.cfg
0 : CentOS Linux (3.10.0-1160.el7.x86_64) 7 (Core)
1 : CentOS Linux (0-rescue-9c44fe6cef3746b2b96d834164eb6b07) 7 (Core)

Install the ELRepo repository:

# rpm --import https://www.elrepo.org/RPM-GPG-KEY-elrepo.org
# yum install -y https://www.elrepo.org/elrepo-release-7.el7.elrepo.noarch.rpm

List available kernel packages from ELRepo:

# yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="elrepo-kernel" list available
... (list truncated) ...
kernel-lt.x86_64 5.4.270-1.el7.elrepo
kernel-ml.x86_64 6.7.8-1.el7.elrepo

Install the latest long‑term (lt) kernel:

# yum --disablerepo='*' --enablerepo=elrepo-kernel install kernel-lt -y

Verify the new kernel appears in the GRUB menu (it should be entry 0):

# awk -F' ' '$1=="menuentry " {print i++ " : " $2}' /etc/grub2.cfg
0 : CentOS Linux (5.4.270-1.el7.elrepo.x86_64) 7 (Core)
1 : CentOS Linux (3.10.0-1160.el7.x86_64) 7 (Core)
2 : CentOS Linux (0-rescue-9c44fe6cef3746b2b96d834164eb6b07) 7 (Core)

Set the new kernel as the default boot entry:

# grub2-set-default 0

Remove old kernels (skip the running one):

# yum remove kernel -y

Reboot the system to load the new kernel:

# reboot

After reboot, confirm the kernel version has been upgraded to 5.4:

# uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 5.4.270-1.el7.elrepo.x86_64 #1 SMP Fri Mar 1 17:34:36 EST 2024 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux