The Linux Kernel 6.15 was released few days ago on May 25. Here’s how to try it out in current Debian 12 Bookworm.
Kernel 6.15 is the latest release that added many new hardware support. They include MediaTek MT8370 SoC, MNT Reform 2 laptop, Apple touch bar display, Intel Killer E5000 Ethernet, Realtek RTL8814AE and RTL8814AU, Huawei Matebook E Go EC, Lenovo ThinkEdge SE30 Watchdog, and more.
It also added support for AMD INVLPGB, Zen 5 OP Load Latency Filtering, Versal NET SoC, RX 9070 fan speed reporting, and OEM i2c support for RGB controls.
The kernel also updated the Xe driver with share virtual memory support, and Intel GPU and VRAM temperature reporting support. For more about the new kernel, see this great post.
Install Kernel 6.15 in Debian Bookworm
Some tutorials taught to install Ubuntu’s Mainline PPA packages in Debian for the latest Linux Kernels. However, it does NOT work in my test due to dependency issue.
Besides building from the source, I’m going to introduce 2 ways that work in my case.
NOTE: Install unsupported Kernel might break things, though rarely. You ONLY need to install it for fixing bugs, new hardware support, or testing purpose.
Option 1: Use Debian Experimental Repository
Like Ubuntu, Debian also keeps adding new Kernels. For the most recent versions, they are usually made available through the experimental repository.
Kernels in Debian Experimental features:
- signed for secure boot support.
- NOT supported, as they are built for testing purpose.
linux-headersdoes NOT installable, due to dependency issue, so you won’t be able to build something that uses the latest kernel functions.
1. First, open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or from application menu.
Just in case, run the command below to check if you’ve already have the experimental repository enabled:
sudo apt update; apt policy |grep experimental
If you have it, then it will output something like the screenshot below shows you.
2. If you don’t have that repository enabled, then run the command below to add it:
sudo bash -c 'echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian experimental main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list'
The command will write the source line into /etc/apt/sources.list file for adding that repository.
3. As the repository contains tons of experimental software packages, we have to set lower priority, so your system won’t install package from it unless you tell to.
To do so, run the command below to create a custom configuration file and edit it:
sudo nano /etc/apt/preferences.d/linux-kernel
When file opens, paste the lines below to set priority to 1 for all packages in that repository:
Package: * Pin: release o=Debian,a=experimental Pin-Priority: 1
Finally, press Ctrl+S to save, and Ctrl+X to exit.
4. Finally, run the command below to refresh cache:
sudo apt update
Then, run the command below to list all available Kernel packages:
apt-cache search linux-image-6
It so far contains “6.15-rc7”. As time goes on, Debian will add the 6.15 stable kernel. Just keep an eye on this page.
And, install target kernel image, linux-image-6.15-rc7-amd64 for example, by running command:
sudo apt install linux-image-6.15-rc7-amd64
Here you need to replace the package name according to the last apt-cache output.
After installed the package, restart your computer and run uname -a command to check current running Kernel version.
Option 2: Install & Update Kernel from Zabbly Repository
The previous method does NOT install the Linux headers. If you do need it, then here’s a third-party repository available for choice.
Zabbly repository features:
- third-party – maintained by Ubuntu core developers (though quit in 2023) worked for Canonical for 12 years.
- un-signed – meaning no secure boot support.
- support
amd64andarm64/aarch64CPU platform.
NOTE: Zabbly repository usually has few weeks delay for the new Kernel release series. Meaning Kernel 6.15 is NOT available at the moment of writing. You may check this page for the list of packages.
1. First, open terminal and run command to make sure /etc/apt/keyrings exist for storing key files:
mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings/
Then, use curl tool to download the key and save to the directory mentioned above.
sudo curl -fsSL https://pkgs.zabbly.com/key.asc -o /etc/apt/keyrings/zabbly.asc
2. Next, run command below to add zabbly repository into your system:
sudo sh -c 'cat < /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zabbly-kernel-stable.sources
Enabled: yes
Types: deb
URIs: https://pkgs.zabbly.com/kernel/stable
Suites: $(. /etc/os-release && echo ${VERSION_CODENAME})
Components: main
Architectures: $(dpkg --print-architecture)
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/zabbly.asc
EOF'
Note that this is a single command separated into multiple lines. It creates a .sources file under /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory, then write the lines to specify the software repository.
The command works for Debian 11, 12, 13, and Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, 24.04. But for their based systems, user needs to manually change the value for Suites to Debian or Ubuntu code-name that your system based on.
3. Finally, run the command below to refresh cache:
sudo apt update
And, run command to install the last kernel from zabbly repository:
sudo apt install linux-zabbly
Tips: The repository also contains Kernel 6.13, 6.12, and earlier versions, run command apt-cache search linux-image to list them all.
Finally, restart computer and run uname -a to verify.
Uninstall:
Before uninstalling the new Kernel, you need to first restart computer and choose booting from an old version from Grub boot menu entry (usually under Advanced).
To uninstall Kernel 6.15 that was installed from the experimental repository, use command:
sudo apt remove linux-image-6.15*
To uninstall the Zabbly kernel, run command:
sudo apt remove linux-headers-*zabbly* linux-image-*zabbly* linux-zabbly
After that, you may also remove the Debian Experimental repository by editing source file via the command below:
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
Then remove the “deb http://deb.debian.org/debian experimental main” line and press Ctrl+S to save, Ctrl+X to exit.
For zabbly repository, just delete the corresponding .sources file by running command:
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zabbly-kernel-stable.sources
Finally, run sudo apt update to apply change by refreshing system package cache.