[dpdk-dev] Minimum kernel version for DPDK

[Stephen Hemminger]

On Mon, 20 Aug 2018 11:46:25 +0300
Kevin Wilson <wkevils at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
> Maybe this is a silly question, please bear with me.
> 
> According to the “Getting Started Guide for Linux” in
> http://doc.dpdk.org/guides/linux_gsg/sys_reqs.html,
> the kernel version should be >= 3.2.
> Accrding to my understanding, there are only two kernel modules in DPDK,
> namely rte_kni.ko and igb_iuo.ko.
> Instead of igb_uio.ko I intend to use uio_pci_generic.ko for binding the device.
> 
> I want to work with DPDK with kernel 3.1, without using rte_kni and no igb_uio
> as mentioned.
> 
> Won't the DPDK code compile for such a kernel ? won't it work ?
> 
> Regards,
> Kevin

I would never build and deploy an application a kernel older than
the current Long Term Supported kernel (3.16). If you are  an unsupported
kernel, you put yourself at risk of the next big security attack.
If you are selling a product, then using older kernels is just
asking it to be pawned.