excluding kernel or other packages from getting updated

How do I exclude kernel or other packages from getting updated in Red Hat Enterprise Linux while updating system via yum?

 SOLUTION VERIFIED - Updated October 20 2015 at 2:01 PM - 

English 

Environment

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7
• Red Hat Satellite
• Red Hat Network

Issue

• How do I exclude kernel or other packages from getting updated in Red Hat Enterprise Linux while updating system via yum?
• How do I use the exclude option with yum?
• How to prevent a package from updating while updating system from Satellite Server ?
• How to exclude only 32 bit or 64 bit packages ?

Resolution

• The up2date command in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 excludes kernel updates by default. The yum in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 includes kernel updates by default.
• To skip installing or updating kernel or other packages while using the yum update utility in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6, use following options:
• Temporary solution via Command line:

Raw

# yum update --exclude=PACKAGENAME 

For example, to exclude all kernel related packages:

Raw

# yum update --exclude=kernel*

• To make permanent changes, edit the /etc/yum.conf file and following entries to it:

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[main]
cachedir=/var/cache/yum/$basearch/$releasever
keepcache=0
debuglevel=2
logfile=/var/log/yum.log
exclude=kernel* redhat-release*                           <==== 

NOTE: If there are multiple package to be excluded then separate them using a single space or comma. Also, do not add multiple exclude= lines in the configuration file because yum only considers the last exclude entry.

To exclude 32 bit packages edit /etc/yum.conf file.

Raw

exclude=*.i?86 *.i686