Install the LTS kernel in Arch Linux

Last edited on 2021-11-19 • Tagged under #arch #linux

Install the Long-Term Support (LTS) Linux kernel as a fallback option to Arch's default kernel. Or set the LTS kernel as the default kernel (for added stability and less frequent updates).

1. Install

Install linux-lts ...

$ sudo pacman -S linux-lts

2. arch-lts.conf

Example setup uses the systemd-boot loader. Copy existing arch.conf to arch-lts.conf ...

$ sudo cp /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf /boot/loader/entries/arch-lts.conf

Modify arch-lts.conf with settings:

title Arch LTS
linux /vmlinuz-linux-lts
initrd /initramfs-linux-lts.img

3. Boot loader

Confirm we have a valid configuration by listing boot loader entries ...

$ bootctl list

4. Reboot

Reboot and select LTS kernel. Check to see if the running kernel is indeed -lts ...

$ uname -r
5.10.75-1-lts

5. Make default

Optional: If you want to use LTS as the default boot kernel, it is safe to remove Arch's linux kernel ...

$ sudo pacman -R linux

Set default in /boot/loader/loader.conf to default arch-lts.conf.

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