I am a semi-newbie linux administrator. Everytime I try to upgrade the kernel and remotely reboot the server, I always have the fear that the new kernel won't work, and the machine will be stuck in the booting process, while I can do nothing(since its a dedicated server), except calling tech support.

Is there any smart boot software(lilo? grub?) for linux that would skip over a failed boot and use a "last known good kernel"?

Thanks,

Peter

I think that wouldn't be possible :(. After LILO/grub has executed a (broken) kernel, the computer is under control of the kernel itself.

Originally posted by priyadi
I think that wouldn't be possible :(. After LILO/grub has executed a (broken) kernel, the computer is under control of the kernel itself.

With a hardware watchdog - it is possible.

However I do not know if LILO has support for such (as they could indicate whether or not they have had to force a reboot in the last xx minutes / seconds).