Proxmox VE users, listen up! The Linux 6.14 kernel is now available as an opt-in option for Proxmox VE 8. This optional kernel brings support for the latest hardware, including AMD Ryzen AI chips, AI acceleration, and other performance improvements.
If you don't know already, Proxmox VE is built on Debian Linux. Proxmox often matches kernel versions with Ubuntu until they become Long-Term Support (LTS). After that, newer kernels like 6.14 are offered as optional updates.
In this blog post, we will discuss what the Linux 6.14 kernel includes, why Proxmox is offering it as an optional upgrade, and how to install Linux Kernel 6.14 in Proxmox VE 8.
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Opt-in to Linux 6.14 Kernel on Proxmox VE 8
Thomas Lamprecht from Proxmox team has announced that Proxmox VE 8 now offers kernel 6.14 as an opt-in option via the pve-no-subscription or pvetest repositories.
Linux Kernel 6.14 is also available in the test and no-subscription repositories for both Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) and Proxmox Mail Gateway (PMG).
For those unaware, Proxmox VE 8 normally uses a safe and tested kernel – Linux 6.8, which comes from Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. But now, Proxmox also lets you try the 6.14 kernel if you want.
Why is it opt-in? Because not everyone needs it. It’s for people who want to test new features or need support for the latest hardware.
As Proxmox’s Thomas said in the announcement post, Kernel 6.8 is still the default, and 6.14 is just an option.
This is Proxmox’s usual way: stick with safe defaults, but also offer newer options for users who want them.
Should You Try It?
It's up to you to decide. Linux Kernel 6.14 is released just a week ago with many key features, updates and fixes. Some notable features include:
- AMDXDNA driver: Helps with AI tasks on AMD Ryzen AI NPUs (special chips for machine learning). Good if you work with AI in VMs.
- NTSYNC driver: Makes Windows games run faster on Linux.
- DMEM cgroup: Better control over GPU memory, so one VM doesn’t hog all the graphics power.
- Faster I/O: Improves how your system reads/writes data.
- Btrfs improvements: Better balancing for RAID1 setups.
- FUSE support for io_uring: Makes file operations faster.
- Support for upcoming hardware: Like AMD RDNA4 GPUs, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, and future Intel chips.
Even though the features of the 6.14 kernel looks exciting, it’s not the default for a reason.
If you’re running important servers, it’s safer to stay on Kernel 6.8. Try Kernel 6.14 only if you need it, or want to test it on similar hardware first.
I checked the Proxmox forum briefly to see what users think about it. Some Proxmox users already tried it. Most said it worked just fine.
But a few noticed small things. One user said CPU temperatures went up slightly. Another asked about problems with LSI cards.
One more note: this new kernel still uses ZFS 2.2 – so no ZFS 2.3 yet.
Also, some users had issues when using SATA or SAS controllers in virtual machines. So if you use something like TrueNAS, you might want to wait.
Install Linux Kernel 6.14 on Proxmox VE 8, Proxmox Backup Server and Proxmox Mail Gateway
If you want to give the 6.14 kernel a try, follow the steps below:
Make sure you have either the pve-no-subscription or pvetest repository set up. You can do this in the Promox web UI under Node → Repositories, or by editing the sources list file.
For example, to enable the pve-no-subscription repository from CLI, do the following:
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-install-repo.list
Add the following line:
deb [arch=amd64] http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve bookworm pve-no-subscription
After adding the repositories, open a shell session, either using SSH or the built-in web shell. Update the software repository list using command:
sudo apt update
Install the Linux kernel 6.14 using command:
sudo apt install proxmox-kernel-6.14
Reboot your system.
After that, your system will use the 6.14 kernel. You can verify the current Kernel version using command:
uname -mrs Linux 6.14.0-1-pve x86_64
If something goes wrong, you can still boot into the old 6.8 kernel at startup.
Future updates to 6.14 will be installed automatically when you upgrade Proxmox.
I'm currently running the Linux 6.14 kernel on my Proxmox VE 8 server. So far, everything works smoothly without any issues.
I'll continue testing it for a few more days and will update you if I encounter any bugs.
