dist-upgrade fails on libc6 because "kernel too old"

I have tried for the past few hours to upgrade ubuntu server 14.04 to 16.04 over SSH. The Server is hosted and I have no physical access to it.

It goes well until it updates libc6 and pops up curl with an error and a single OK button, message: Kernel version not supported This version of the GNU libc requires kernel version 3.2 or later. Older versions might work but are not officially supported. Please consider upgrading your kernel.

It will not continue. I tried manually installing the new kernel via sudo apt-get install linux-generic-lts-xenial, which also fails for the same reason.

Solution 1:

This doesn't answer the question, but it explains why there's no answer.

Problem was that the "virtual host" in this case was a container, it didn't use the kernel that was shipped with the operating system, but on the server hosting the container. I was informed that I would have to upgrade the container through the hosting service, which would have come with additional cost. Ended up getting a true virtual server instead so I have more control.