32-bit Oracle UEK kernel in Oracle Linux 6.1

Question

According to the release notes for Oracle Linux 6 update 1 at http://oss.oracle.com/ol6/docs/RELEASE-NOTES-U1-en the Oracle UEK kernel is also available in a 32-bit version. It seems some previous documentation needs updating, e.g. Oracle Linux FAQ http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/027617.pdf. There is also a UEK kernel source rpm in the public yum repository available for 32-bit OL 5.6.
I was just wondering if this is this due to customer demand, or whether there are technical reasons to provide a 32-bit version? I thought the 32-bit platform was obsolete by now, and if I'm not mistaken, Oracle 11.2.0.2 for instance is x86_64 only.

Answer 1

If you check "/proc/cpuinfo" and have the "lm" flag:
$ fgrep -w lm /proc/cpuinfo
and get any non-error output, then you have a 64-bit capable CPU. If you have a 64-bit capable system, you will probably be running an x86_64 kernel as the:
$ uname -a ~
Linux oel5.moth.darkzone.un 2.6.18-53.1.14.0.1.el5 #1 SMP Wed Mar 5 19:19:58 EST 2008 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
command shows. If your output shows "i386" instead of "x86_64" then you are running 32-bit system.
A 64-bit system can run either 32-bit (i386) or 64-bit (x86_64) RPM packages, a 32-bit system can only run the i386 packages.
Unfortunately, the default output from "rpm -q" does not display the RPM package architecture. Use the command:
$ rpm -qa --qf='%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n' foo
will display the complete information.
You will be able to install both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of these packages, if you need them. Just use the style:
# rpm -ivf /path/to/32/bit/package
# rpm -ivg /path/to/64/bit/package
In other words, do not use the "-U" (update) switch or the second package will delete the first.
HTH