I’m curious about this, too. Say I’m on Ubuntu 14.04 and then I use the Change Kernel feature to choose 14.10. Will my server now be running 14.10 after the next reboot? What if I apply updates? Am I updating from the point when I selected the new kernel?

@webmaster713104: No, you will need to actually upgrade your operating system to 14.10 – updating the kernel is not enough.

sudo apt-get install update-manager-core
do-release-upgrade -d

Once you’ve done that, install the latest kernel available in the control panel and power off your droplet:

sudo apt-get install linux-image-3.16.0-23-generic
sudo poweroff

Then, set your droplet’s kernel to Ubuntu 14.10 3.16.0-23-generic and then boot it from the control panel.

I guess I don’t know the difference between the kernel and the operation system. I had done the “do-release-upgrade” previously, which seemed cumbersome and prone to breakage, and then discovered the “Change Kernel” afterwards, so I was wondering if I had done it the hard way. What is the point of “Change Kernel” if it doesn’t upgrade the server to that OS? ::confused::