EX2 kernel

[Former Member]

hi - can someone let me know what the reasons one would switch from their current kernel version to the *EX2 ones? is the decision (e.g. 640 kernel vs. 640_EX2 kernel) strictly based on the PAM and what's shows there as supported for your particular SAP/OS/DB combination? or are there other reasons??

thanks

[Former Member]

na

[markus_doehr2]

In most cases it's driven by the OS and the compilers that the kernels and database libraries are built.

SAP doesn't change the build environment during the "lifetime" of a kernel. If now a vendor cancels support for the used compiler SAP has to react and use a newer compiler. They also use then the newest database libraries for the highest supported version of the database to avoid compatibility problems.

So as example:

You run a 6.20 based system (e. g. R/3 4.7) with kernel 6.40 on HP-UX with Oracle 9.2. Since HP-UX 11.31 does not support Oracle 9.2 you have to upgrade to Oracle 10g. You can still use the current 6.40 kernel with an Oracle 9.2 client but to not run into issues you would upgrade to 640_EX2 and use the new Oracle 10g instantclient. This also avoid double maintenance of database clients during upgrades etc.

Since the new kernels have a new "build id" you will also need to run SGEN to regenerate all programs.

Apart from that the new kernels don't have any "advantages" above the normal ones.

Markus