[SOLVED] Delete old updates from GRUB?

[ScottyK]

On my notebook I dual book Kubuntu and Vista (yeah I know, insert joke here).

I did a clean install of both OS when 10.04 came out.

Now I've noticed that as Kubuntu updates itself, the GRUB menu is getting filled up with extra "entries".

How do I delete all the old "updates", so I can just stick with the current Kubuntu?

Thanks!

[img width=400 height=300]http://www.scottyk.net/DSCN3842.jpg[/img]

[oshunluvr]

Re: Delete old updates from GRUB?

Launch your choice of package managers and remove the image and kernels that you don't want.

I use synaptic, so I'd type in the version number in the search bar and remove the 2 or 3 files associated with that version, in your case 2.6.32-21, -22, and -23 are the likely candidates.

When you install a new kernel, the old one is NOT removed automatically because the new just may not work, thus leaving your system unbootable. I always leave one old kernel that I am sure works just in case.

[Telengard]

Re: Delete old updates from GRUB?

Now I've noticed that as Kubuntu updates itself, the GRUB menu is getting filled up with extra "entries".

By chance have you compiled anything from source code on this machine?

Seems like an oddball question maybe, but I'm hoping you'll humor me.

[Zhao]

Re: Delete old updates from GRUB?

When I remove an older kernel version I usually remove through Synaptic the following packages:

linux-headers-2.6.32-23
linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic
linux-image-2.6.32-23-generic

Only the number changes, depending on the kernel version you are trying to remove. I don't know if it is the best method but works fine for me. After removing those older kernel versions usually Synaptic updates GRUB, but if not you can run

sudo update-grub

from a terminal.

That's what I usually do

[Yuri sss]

Re: Delete old updates from GRUB?

Simply open Synaptic (if you don't have it, install it with sudo apt-get install synaptic in a konsole window).
Enter 2.6.32 in the Quick search textbox.

Then remove the following packages:

linux-headers-2.6.32-21
linux-headers-2.6.32-21-generic
linux-image-2.6.32-21-generic

linux-headers-2.6.32-22
linux-headers-2.6.32-22-generic
linux-image-2.6.32-22-generic

linux-headers-2.6.32-23
linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic
linux-image-2.6.32-23-generic

Basically, for every kernel that you don't want anymore, remove the following three files:

linux-headers-<version>
linux-headers-<version>-generic
linux-image-<version>-generic

[ScottyK]

Re: Delete old updates from GRUB?

Thanks for the info everyone!

So it's safe to say that unless I have a program with a particular kernel, I can go ahead and just delete the old ones?

How much space is recovered from this process?

[Ole Juul]

Re: Delete old updates from GRUB?

About 8 Megs, but hey, that's almost 6 floppies! Seriously though, not very much by modern standards. You can look for yourself:

ls -l /boot

[vinnywright]

Re: Delete old updates from GRUB?

About 8 Megs, but hey, that's almost 6 floppies! Seriously though, not very much by modern standards. You can look for yourself:

ls -l /boot

or this one if you have a hard time reading bites ......ha ha

ls -lh /boot

VINNY

[Telengard]

Re: Delete old updates from GRUB?

$ du -hs /boot/
111M  /boot/

[ScottyK]

Re: Delete old updates from GRUB?

Mission Accomplished, I'm down to just one kernel in the GRUB menu, and it looks much better. Thanks for the info everyone! Time to mark this solved.

[kubicle]

Re: Delete old updates from GRUB?

About 8 Megs, but hey, that's almost 6 floppies! Seriously though, not very much by modern standards. You can look for yourself:

ls -l /boot

Actually, removing a kernel image package frees over 100Mb (it's not just the image, the package installs a good number of firmware and modules in /lib/firmware/{kernel} and /lib/modules/{kernel})

If you also had the headers package installed and removed it, the total freed space is around 200Mb per kernel.

[Ole Juul]

Re: [SOLVED] Delete old updates from GRUB?

That's very informative kubicle, thanks! This forum is a great place to learn stuff - go figure.

On my machine the /boot directory has 11 kernels and associated files going back to 2.6.15 and it only takes up 169M in total. However I didn't think about that other stuff. I'm going to have a look at those /lib directories right now.