You can install the CachyOS kernel on Fedora by enabling the COPR repository, selecting the appropriate kernel variant, and installing it via dnf or rpm-ostree depending on your Fedora edition.
Step 1: Check CPU Compatibility
- For the default CachyOS kernel, your CPU must support x86-64-v3.
- For LTS or Server kernels, x86-64-v2 is sufficient
- Run /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 --help | grep " (supported, searched)" to verify CPU support
Step 2: Enable SELinux Policy
If SELinux is enabled, allow kernel modules to load:
sudo setsebool -P domain_kernel_load_modules on
Step 3: Enable the COPR Repository
For Fedora Workstation:
sudo dnf copr enable bieszczaders/kernel-cachyos
For Fedora Silverblue or Kinoite:
cd /etc/yum.repos.d/
sudo wget https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/bieszczaders/kernel-cachyos/repo/fedora-$(rpm -E %fedora)/bieszczaders-kernel-cachyos-fedora-$(rpm -E %fedora).repo
Step 4: Install the Kernel
Fedora Workstation
- Standard kernel:
sudo dnf install kernel-cachyos kernel-cachyos-devel-matched
- Real-time kernel:
sudo dnf install kernel-cachyos-rt kernel-cachyos-rt-devel-matched
- LTS kernel:
sudo dnf install kernel-cachyos-lts kernel-cachyos-lts-devel-matched
- Server kernel (for Fedora Server/Cloud/CoreOS):
sudo dnf install kernel-cachyos-server kernel-cachyos-server-devel-matched
Fedora Silverblue / Kinoite
- Standard kernel:
sudo rpm-ostree override remove kernel kernel-core kernel-modules kernel-modules-core kernel-modules-extra --install kernel-cachyos
sudo systemctl reboot
- Real-time kernel:
sudo rpm-ostree override remove kernel kernel-core kernel-modules kernel-modules-core kernel-modules-extra --install kernel-cachyos-rt
sudo systemctl reboot
- LTS kernel:
sudo rpm-ostree override remove kernel kernel-core kernel-modules kernel-modules-core kernel-modules-extra --install kernel-cachyos-lts
sudo systemctl reboot
Step 5: Set CachyOS Kernel as Default
To ensure Fedora always boots the latest CachyOS kernel:
- Create a script in /etc/kernel/postinst.d/ that sets the default kernel.
- Make the script executable and owned by root.
- This allows the official Fedora kernel to remain as a backup in case of issues
Step 6: Optional Performance Enhancements
CachyOS provides additional packages for performance tuning:
- CachyOS-Settings for modprobe and udev rules
- scx-scheds and scx-manager for scheduler management
- ananicy-cpp and cachyos-ananicy-rules for automatic process niceness adjustments
Following these steps will install the CachyOS kernel on Fedora, configure SELinux, and optionally enable performance enhancements while keeping the official kernel as a fallback.