Why is my CentOS 7.4 on kernel 2.6.32?

Question

I'm paying for a VPS which is running CentOS 7.4:

# rpm --query centos-release
centos-release-7-4.1708.el7.centos.x86_64

# cat /etc/centos-release
CentOS Linux release 7.4.1708 (Core)

# uname -a
Linux vps1 2.6.32-042stab120.16 #1 SMP Tue Dec 13 20:58:28 MSK 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I thought that CentOS 7 is based off of kernel 3.10.

I am fully updated according to yum.

Have you asked your VPS providers they alone know the reason? — George Udosen, Dec 19 '17 at 05:03
If your VPS instance is a normal Linux container, the kernel you see is from the host server. You cannot change it, ask your VPS to host your instance on a new OS. — muru, Dec 19 '17 at 05:11
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because only the VPS provider can help. — muru, Dec 19 '17 at 05:12

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 19 '17 at 05:18

The kernel version, “2.6.32-042stab120.16”, indicates that your VPS provider is using OpenVZ. Your “VPS” is really a container, running a host-provided kernel that you can’t change, only the provider can.

Even your provider might not be able to use a newer kernel (or might not want to) — as I understand it, it is possible to use a 3.x kernel with OpenVZ, but without some features available on 2.6.32.

Why is my CentOS 7.4 on kernel 2.6.32?

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