/boot dir?

carlosinfl · 11-30-2005, 11:49 AM

I was checking out some directories I don't usually access in my Debian system and came across the /boot directory. When I go to this dir, I can see: screenshot.

or

Code:

login as: carlos
Using keyboard-interactive authentication.
Password:
Linux stricom 2.6.14-2-k7 #1 Sat Nov 26 14:04:05 UTC 2005 i686 GNU/Linux

Welcome to the Stricom Linux server. All actions | commands | history is monitored by the linux administrator.

Last login: Wed Nov 30 12:07:04 2005 from .mil
carlos@stricom:~$ cd /boot/
carlos@stricom:/boot$ ls
config-2.6.14-2-k7  initrd.img-2.6.14-2-k7  System.map-2.6.8-2-386
config-2.6.8-2-386  initrd.img-2.6.8-2-386  vmlinuz-2.6.14-2-k7
grub                System.map-2.6.14-2-k7  vmlinuz-2.6.8-2-386

My question is wondering if I am able to clean some of this up? The new kernel I downloaded and installed 2.6.14-2-k7 is fine. What can I remove from this /boot/ dir?

haertig · 11-30-2005, 12:06 PM

You could remove your old 2.6.8 kernel files if you won't ever be using these again. You'll probably only save 6-7Mb however. If you delete the old kernel you might want to go to your grub subdirectory, edit menu.lst, and remove the sections that point to the removed kernel as well. Won't hurt to leave the old grub references in place, but they won't work after you remove the kernel so some cleanup would be good.

dastrike · 11-30-2005, 12:07 PM

Code:

apt-get remove kernel-image-2.6.8-2-386 --purge

carlosinfl · 11-30-2005, 12:08 PM

So how would I first go about cleaning up the /boot dir?

#rm ?

dastrike · 11-30-2005, 12:18 PM

See my above post. It will remove anything related to the old kernel. Do not start manually removing things from /boot

haertig · 11-30-2005, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dastrike
...It will remove anything related to the old kernel...

Now this seems so obvious I can't believe I've been manually doing things in the past! Does the apt-get command also remove stuff under /lib/modules etc? From your description, this sounds like what will happen. I would have to admit - much simpler and better than manual removal!

carlosinfl · 11-30-2005, 12:35 PM

Awesome!

dastrike · 11-30-2005, 12:46 PM

Yes. All the files provided by the package (except certain configuration files) will be removed when you remove the package with apt-get (or dpkg). Using the --purge option removes even any configuration files provided with the package.

To see a list of the files provided with a certain package, execute

Code:

dpkg -L packagename

If you want to find out what package a certain file belongs to, execute

Code:

dpkg -S filename

haertig · 11-30-2005, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dastrike
Yes. All the files provided by the package...

Thanks. I've used 'apt-get remove' often for other packages but for some reason it never clicked that I should do this to remove unused kernels. A short in the logic circuit of my brain I guess.

davcefai · 11-30-2005, 04:09 PM

If I can ask a supplementary question?

When I installed Debian I installed the 2.6.8 kernel. I'm now up to 2.6.14 with 2.6.12 as "LinuxOld".

Playing it safe, I haven't purged 2.6.8 since it was the "base" installation. Is it safe to do so?

eplanamente · 12-02-2005, 08:32 AM

Yes, you can safely remove your 2.6.8 kernel.

Take just in mind the following thigs:

kernel 2.6.8 is the stable version, all the following are not! (this does not mean they don't work!)
keep always at least 2 working kernel on your system. If you brake the main one, you can use the second to still boot and solve the problem

Ciao
Emidio

michapma · 12-02-2005, 08:43 AM

apt = advanced packaging tool
It really is!

I would consider removing the entry from GRUB if it bothers you, but unless you're running low on space in a /boot partition (assuming it is in its own partition), is there really a good reason to remove the stable kernel? Seems to me that in this case "cleaning up" means cutting off a branch you might later want to stand on.

davcefai · 12-02-2005, 10:14 AM

Point taken, It stays.