Chapter 2. Architectures
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 is distributed with the kernel version 3.10.0-862, which provides support for the following architectures: [1]
Support for Architectures in the kernel-alt Packages
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 is distributed with the kernel-alt packages, which include kernel version 4.14. This kernel version provides support for the following architectures:
- 64-bit ARM
- IBM POWER9 (little endian) [5]
- IBM Z
The following table provides an overview of architectures supported by the two kernel versions available in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5:
|
Architecture
|
Kernel version 3.10
|
Kernel version 4.14
|
|---|---|---|
| 64-bit AMD and Intel | yes | no |
| 64-bit ARM | no | yes |
| IBM POWER7 (big endian) | yes | no |
| IBM POWER8 (big endian) | yes | no |
| IBM POWER8 (little endian) | yes | no |
| IBM POWER9 (little endian) | no | yes |
| IBM z System | yes[a] | yes (Structure A) |
[a]
The 3.10 kernel version does not support KVM virtualization and containers on IBM Z. Both of these features are supported on the 4.14 kernel on IBM Z - this offerring is also referred to as Structure A.
| ||
For more information, see Chapter 19, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 for ARM and Chapter 20, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 for IBM Power LE (POWER9).
[1]
Note that the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 installation is supported only on 64-bit hardware. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 is able to run 32-bit operating systems, including previous versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, as virtual machines.
[2]
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 POWER8 (big endian) are currently supported as KVM guests on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 POWER8 systems that run the KVM hypervisor, and on PowerVM.
[3]
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 POWER8 (little endian) is currently supported as a KVM guest on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 POWER8 systems that run the KVM hypervisor, and on PowerVM. In addition, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 POWER8 (little endian) guests are supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 POWER9 systems that run the KVM hypervisor in POWER8-compatibility mode on version 4.14 kernel using the kernel-alt package.
[4]
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 for IBM Z (both the 3.10 kernel version and the 4.14 kernel version) is currently supported as a KVM guest on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 for IBM Z hosts that run the KVM hypervisor on version 4.14 kernel using the kernel-alt package.
[5]
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 POWER9 (little endian) is currently supported as a KVM guest on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 POWER9 systems that run the KVM hypervisor on version 4.14 kernel using the kernel-alt package, and on PowerVM.
