How to Install KernelCare

Last modified: July 19, 2022

Overview

This document describes how to install the KernelCare software via the command line. KernelCare automatically updates your system’s Linux® kernel without the need for a reboot.

Note:

To automatically install KernelCare through WHM, read the Purchase from WHM section of our How to Purchase a KernelCare License documentation.

Install KernelCare

Important:

You must run these commands as the root user.
To install and run KernelCare, you must disable Secure Boot if you enabled Secure Boot previously.

Check for compatible kernels

Before you purchase and install KernelCare, make certain that your system possesses a compatible kernel. To do this, read the KernelCare documentation.

Choose and run your preferred command

You can choose between two different SSH commands to begin the KernelCare installation process. To begin the KernelCare installation process, run one of the following commands:

1
2


curl -s https://repo.cloudlinux.com/kernelcare/kernelcare_install.sh | bash
wget -qq -O - https://repo.cloudlinux.com/kernelcare/kernelcare_install.sh | bash

Register the license key

Important:

You can skip this step if you purchased a KernelCare license from the cPanel Store. KernelCare licenses use IP-based licensing, which you don’t need to register.

The KernelCare license key deploys and registers your server. To register your key, run the following command:

/usr/bin/kcarectl --register $kc_key

Check for applied patches

After you register KernelCare, you will need to check for applied patches. This ensures that the automated kernel security updates ran properly on your server. To check for applied patches, run the following command:

/usr/bin/kcarectl --info

Manually check for patch updates

KernelCare will automatically check for new patches every four hours. If you want to check for new patches yourself, run the following command:

/usr/bin/kcarectl --update