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How to select the correct kernel to boot from on CloudLinux

John Reyes
  • Updated

Question

After installing CloudLinux 7 or 8, WHM / LVE Manager shows the following message:

CPANEL_INFO: Reboot your system to update the kernel.

How do I switch to the correct kernel?

Answer

This occurs when the server is booted using the default CentOS 7 or AlmaLinux 8 kernel instead of the CloudLinux kernel. CloudLinux 7 and 8 require its own kernel (containing "lve" in the name) to be selected at boot time.

Note: For CloudLinux OS 9 and 10, there are no LVE specific kernels that need to be installed. 

CentOS 7

  1. List the currently installed kernels on the server:

    # awk -F' '$1=="menuentry " {print i++ " = "$2}' /etc/grub2.cfg

    Note: The output will vary depending on your hosting provider and server environment, but the CloudLinux kernel will be labeled similarly to what is below. Make sure you are booting a kernel with "lve" in the name:
    # 1 = CloudLinux (3.10.0-962.3.2.lve1.5.52.el7.x86_64) 7.9 (Boris Yegorov)

  2. The number on the left indicates the option in the list that you would choose during boot time. Make the CloudLinux option the default by referencing the option number in the following command

    # grub2-set-default 1

  3. Reboot the server, and verify the kernel now contains LVE in the name.

    # uname -a
    Linux server.example.tld 3.10.0-962.3.2.lve1.5.52.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Aug 13 10:40:14 EDT 2026 x86_64 GNU/Linux

AlmaLinux 8

After installing CloudLinux 8, you must perform a few additional steps to boot the CloudLinux provided kernel.

  1. Access the server as the root user via SSH.

  2. Run the yum command to update grub.

    # yum update grub2*

  3. Using your favorite editor, set the option in grub /etc/default/grub:

    # GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
    GRUB_ENABLE_BLSCFG=true.

  4. Rebuild grub.

    # grub2-mkconfig -o /etc/grub2.cfg
    grub2-mkconfig -o /etc/grub2-efi.cfg
    grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
    grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/centos/grub.cfg
    grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/almalinux/grub.cfg

  5. Reboot the server.

    # reboot

  6. After the server has come back up, verify the running kernel with the command uname.

    # uname -a
    Linux server.example.tld 4.18.0-553.157.1.lve.el8.x86_64 #1 SMP Mon Aug 24 17:05:39 UTC 2026 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

 

Additional Information

CloudLinux provides instructions on selecting the correct kernel to boot from here:

How to choose the correct kernel to boot on CloudLinux OS 7

Resolving kernel booting issues on CloudLinux OS 8

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