Q. What does 021stab018 in OpenVZ kernel version mean?

A. OpenVZ kernel versions are named as XXXtestYYY and XXXstabYYY.
  • "test" series kernels are unstable kernel releases, which are usually under extensive development.
  • "stab" series kernels are more or less stable kernel releases which are close to be released or are in production already.
  • XXX is a major kernel version number, which usually changes from release to release, or when dramatic changes to the kernel are made.
  • YYY is a minor kernel version number, which changes from build to build, when bugfixes or small feature changes were made.
Usual kernel development cycles looks like:
021test000 -> 021test001 -> ... -> 021test004 -> (kernel became stable here)
021stab000 -> 021stab001 -> ... -> 021stab020


-- Swapnil M