Upgrade the kernel on Slackware with safe rollback

1. When to use it

Use this when upgrading the kernel on an important host and you want to minimize reboot risk.

2. Base setup

installpkg kernel-generic-*.txz
mkinitrd -c -k 6.x.y -f ext4 -r /dev/sda2 -m ahci:ext4
cp /boot/vmlinuz-generic-6.x.y /boot/vmlinuz-generic-new
lilo

Adjust host names, IPs, interfaces, paths, and versions to the real system before making the change persistent.

3. Quick verification

ls /boot/vmlinuz*
grep -n '^image' /etc/lilo.conf
uname -r

Confirm that the output matches the expected state before considering the intervention complete.

4. Operational notes

Do not remove the previous kernel entry until the new boot has been verified in production.

Quick checklist

[ ] Steps completed\n[ ] Config updated\n[ ] Tests executed\n[ ] Rollback ready\n[ ] Logs checked

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