out of disk space due to old kernel versions

tmick · 12-01-2015, 11:46 PM

I ran an update and received a message about running the command

Code:

dpkg --config -a

which I did and the that gave the error out of disk space in the /var directory. ran the df command and root '/' is full and has no free space left.
I then ran

Code:

dpkg -- list | grep 'linux-image'

and found I have 5 kernel versions that were from upgrading to newer versions but not removed.
I can't remove them due to the fact when I try to use apt-get or apt or dpkg to remove them it tells me I need to run

Code:

dpkg --configure -a

which then tells me I'm out of free space and the command fails.
So I need to know how to get rid of the older Kernel versions and not get prompted to run the configure all command.
Thanks in advance.

astrogeek · 12-02-2015, 12:06 AM

Those kernel images really aren't taking up a lot of space, so freeing them will just defer the no-disk-space problems temporarily, if at all.

You should really identify what is taking up all the space and delete it instead, then remove old kernels if you want.

I would suggest looking in the /tmp directory first, then check for large log files, and full user home directories if that is on the same partition.

Use the du command on selected directories to find a place to start. Like maybe...

Code:

du -ks /tmp
du -ks /var/*
du -ks /home/*

You may need to be root or use sudo to see all of those.

bryanl · 12-02-2015, 10:53 AM

astrogeek has good advice for finding where stuff is that you can then delete or offload.

One thing you might try is to clean up the package cache. Try this (as su):

Code:

echo "Cleaning Up" &&
apt-get -f install &&
apt-get autoremove &&
apt-get -y autoclean &&
apt-get -y clean

Another candidate is the log archives. Look for the gz files in /var/log

or you can boot off USB and use gpart to resize partitions to give you a bit more room.

oldtechaa · 12-03-2015, 07:46 AM

If you have Bleachbit installed, you can use that too.

tmick · 12-06-2015, 03:53 AM

So I found the pepperflashplayer-nonfree folder was huge. Cleared that out and removed wine from my system and I was able to get rid of the errors.
I also had to install and remove nvidia-legacy-kernel 304xx to get my GUI back (no idea why I had to do that to get that fixed) running bleach bitto clear up more free space.
Thanks all