How to install the latest kernel on Debian 11 and derivatives

Hello, friends. Although it is not recommended to do so, it may be useful to know how to install the latest kernel on Debian 11 and derivatives. Let’s go for it, it’s easy.

Introduction

Debian is quite conservative with the issue of package versions, but this makes them obsolete over time. An example of this can be the kernel, which as we know is in charge of managing the hardware of our computer.

Therefore, on some very modern hardware, we may not always be able to take full advantage of it due to kernel issues. To compensate for this, we have the help of the people at XanMod who compile the kernel for us.

What is XanMod?

According to the project website

XanMod is a general purpose Linux kernel distribution with custom configurations and new features. Built to provide a stable, responsive and smooth desktop experience.

Although it is not the Vanilla Kernel, the results of using this kernel are good. They also provide different versions such as LTS, Edge (the latest version) and the current stable version by them.

So let’s use it to achieve our goal.

Adding the XanMod repository in Debian 11

First update the whole system and install some necessary packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install gnupg wget

Now to add the XanMod repository, open a terminal and run

echo 'deb http://deb.xanmod.org releases main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/xanmod-kernel.list

Then add the GPG key

wget -qO - https://dl.xanmod.org/gpg.key | sudo apt-key --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/xanmod-kernel.gpg add -

And finally refresh APT

sudo apt update

Note: these steps are provided by the XanMod website, but for some reason I’m getting an error when adding the GPG key.

To fix this, create a file called gpg.key and add all the content listed in this link.

Save the file and then add it like this

sudo apt-key --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/xanmod-kernel.gpg add gpg.key

I got an output screen like this

OK

Next, refresh APT.

sudo apt update

and you’re done.

Installing the latest kernel on Debian 11 and derivatives

Before doing the installation, check the version of the kernel you are running

uname -r

And you will get an output screen like this

5.10.0-13-amd64

Now do install the latest kernel version using this command

sudo apt install linux-xanmod-edge

Wait for the installation to finish and reboot the system.

sudo reboot

And when the system boots, you can check the kernel version

uname -r

And you will see an output screen like this.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to install the latest kernel version on Debian 11 and derivatives, you have a port that can give you better hardware support. However, be careful when doing this process because it can always give errors.