LTS Kernel Variant#

The LTS variant of Immutablue uses a Long-Term Support kernel instead of the standard Fedora kernel.

Overview#

The LTS variant includes:

• Linux 6.12 LTS kernel (instead of Fedora’s rolling kernel)
• Extended support lifecycle
• More conservative updates
• Automatically includes ZFS support

When to Use LTS#

Choose LTS if:

• You need maximum stability
• You have hardware that works better with older kernels
• You’re running production workloads
• You want predictable kernel behavior over time

Choose standard kernel if:

• You need the latest hardware support
• You want the newest kernel features
• You’re running newer hardware that requires recent drivers

Installation#

Fresh Install#

sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/immutablue/immutablue:latest-lts
sudo reboot

From Existing Immutablue#

# Switch to LTS variant
sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/immutablue/immutablue:43-lts
sudo reboot

Image Tags#

LTS images follow the naming convention <version>-lts:

Combined Variants#

LTS can be combined with other variants:

ZFS Included#

The LTS variant automatically includes ZFS support. This is because:

1. ZFS modules need to be compiled against a specific kernel
2. LTS kernels have stable ABIs, making ZFS more reliable
3. TrueBlue variant always uses LTS for this reason

Kernel Version#

Check your current kernel:

uname -r

LTS kernel will show something like 6.12.x-xxx instead of Fedora’s 6.x.x-xxx.fc43.

Updating#

Updates work the same as standard Immutablue:

immutablue update

The LTS kernel receives:

• Security patches
• Bug fixes
• Stable backports

But NOT:

• New features
• Major version bumps (until next LTS release)

Building Custom LTS Images#

To build your own LTS variant:

make LTS=1 build

Or in your custom Makefile:

include immutablue/Makefile

# Force LTS for your build
LTS := 1

Comparing Kernels#

Troubleshooting#

Hardware not working on LTS#

Some newer hardware may require the standard kernel:

# Switch back to standard
sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/immutablue/immutablue:43
sudo reboot

Checking available kernels#

rpm-ostree status

See Also#

• Immutablue Variants
• TrueBlue (ZFS) - Always uses LTS
• Build Reference