The kernel versions originally shipped with each Debian release are
no longer maintained during the Extended LTS phase of each release’s lifecycle. Instead, we
provide backports of Linux from more recent Debian releases.
Currently, this means that for Debian 9 “stretch” and Debian 10 “buster”
we provide packages of Linux 5.10 and Linux 6.1.
They can be installed from the stretch-lts and buster-lts repositories,
respectively.
Linux 5.10 will be supported until the end of August 2026. Linux 6.1 will be supported until the end of June 2027 for Debian 9, and until the end of June 2028 for Debian 10. We also plan to backport Linux 6.12, starting in August 2027. The following table summarizes the kernel maintenance lifetime of Extended LTS:
| Debian 9 “stretch” | Debian 10 “buster” | Debian 11 “bullseye” (planned) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux 5.10 | Until August 31st 2026 | Until August 31st 2026 | |
| Linux 6.1 | Until June 30th 2027 | Until June 30th 2028 | Until June 30th 2028 |
| Linux 6.12 (planned) | From August 2027 to June 30th 2029 | From August 2027 to June 30th 2030 |
Support of i386 kernel packages
The Linux 5.10 and 6.1 ELTS packages provide support for 32-bit x86 (i386), and the i386 binary packages will be available until the end of their related backport maintenance lifetimes. The future Linux 6.12 backport won’t include any i386 binary packages.
Installing Linux Kernel backports
Linux binary packages are available according to the host’s architecture. They can be installed using the following commands:
Linux 6.1
For 64-bit x86 (amd64):
apt-get install linux-image-6.1-amd64
or for 32-bit x86 (i386):
apt-get install linux-image-6.1-686-pae
Linux 5.10
For 64-bit x86 (amd64):
apt-get install linux-image-5.10-amd64
or for 32bit x86 (i386):
apt-get install linux-image-5.10-686-pae