The latest Linux Kernel 3.12.8 has been announced a few hours ago. According to the changelog, Kernel 3.12.8 is a small release that mainly brings improvements to x86, ARM architectures, as well as some network fixes.

All users of the 3.12 kernel series are urged to upgrade this kernel as soon as possible and here’s how to do it in Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 12.10, Linux Mint and their derivatives.

Install / Upgrade Kernel 3.12.8:

Ubuntu Kernel Team has made the DEB packages which are available in this page. If you’re comfortable with command line, follow below steps to download & install them.

1. Download the Kernel Debs:

For 32 bit system, open terminal by Ctrl+Alt+T and run below commands:

cd /tmp/ && wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.12.8-trusty/linux-headers-3.12.8-031208-generic_3.12.8-031208.201401151952_i386.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.12.8-trusty/linux-headers-3.12.8-031208_3.12.8-031208.201401151952_all.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.12.8-trusty/linux-image-3.12.8-031208-generic_3.12.8-031208.201401151952_i386.deb

For 64 bit system:

cd /tmp/ && wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.12.8-trusty/linux-headers-3.12.8-031208-generic_3.12.8-031208.201401151952_amd64.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.12.8-trusty/linux-headers-3.12.8-031208_3.12.8-031208.201401151952_all.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.12.8-trusty/linux-image-3.12.8-031208-generic_3.12.8-031208.201401151952_amd64.deb

2. Install the DEBs:

cd /tmp/ && sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-3.12.8-*.deb linux-image-3.12.8-*.deb

Restart your computer and done.

If you’re using a proprietary video driver, you may need to re-build or re-install to get it work with the new kernel.

If for some reason this kernel release doesn’t work properly for you, reboot into previous kernel (Grub -> Advanced -> select previous kernel) and run commands to remove Linux Kernel 3.12.7:

sudo apt-get remove linux-headers-3.12.8-* linux-image-3.12.8-*