Deleting files on /boot

[desesperado]

Hi all. I have a question to the *buntu masters. Presently in my Xubuntu 13.10 installation i have the following kernels

~$ dpkg-query -l | grep linux-image
ii  linux-image-3.11.5-031105-generic    3.11.5-031105.201310132235          i386         Linux kernel image for version 3.11.5 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-image-3.12.0-031200-generic    3.12.0-031200.201311031935          i386         Linux kernel image for version 3.12.0 on 32 bit x86

and the contents of my /boot folder is the following:

~$ ls -lh /boot
total 233M
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 978K Oct 14 03:50 abi-3.11.5-031105-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 985K Nov  4 00:53 abi-3.12.0-031200-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 834K Oct  9  2012 abi-3.5.0-17-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 837K Jan  8  2013 abi-3.5.0-22-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 837K Jan 24  2013 abi-3.5.0-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 839K Feb  7  2013 abi-3.5.0-24-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 839K Feb 25  2013 abi-3.5.0-25-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 839K Mar  8  2013 abi-3.5.0-26-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 841K Mar 25  2013 abi-3.5.0-27-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 904K Apr 17  2013 abi-3.8.0-19-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 164K Oct 14 03:50 config-3.11.5-031105-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 163K Nov  4 00:53 config-3.12.0-031200-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 151K Oct  9  2012 config-3.5.0-17-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 151K Jan  8  2013 config-3.5.0-22-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 151K Jan 24  2013 config-3.5.0-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 151K Feb  7  2013 config-3.5.0-24-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 151K Feb 25  2013 config-3.5.0-25-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 151K Mar  8  2013 config-3.5.0-26-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 152K Mar 25  2013 config-3.5.0-27-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 158K Apr 17  2013 config-3.8.0-19-generic
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Dec  5 00:36 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  16M Nov 13 21:42 initrd.img-3.11.5-031105-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  17M Dec  4 23:28 initrd.img-3.12.0-031200-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  15M Jan 25  2013 initrd.img-3.5.0-17-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  15M Jan 25  2013 initrd.img-3.5.0-22-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  15M Jan 31  2013 initrd.img-3.5.0-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  15M Feb 19  2013 initrd.img-3.5.0-24-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  15M Feb 26  2013 initrd.img-3.5.0-25-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  15M Mar 28  2013 initrd.img-3.5.0-26-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  15M Apr 30  2013 initrd.img-3.5.0-27-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  16M Apr 30  2013 initrd.img-3.8.0-19-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 173K Jun 17 10:52 memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 175K Jun 17 10:52 memtest86+_multiboot.bin
-rw------- 1 root root 2.6M Oct 14 03:50 System.map-3.11.5-031105-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.7M Nov  4 00:53 System.map-3.12.0-031200-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.3M Oct  9  2012 System.map-3.5.0-17-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.3M Jan  8  2013 System.map-3.5.0-22-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.3M Jan 24  2013 System.map-3.5.0-23-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.3M Feb  7  2013 System.map-3.5.0-24-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.3M Feb 25  2013 System.map-3.5.0-25-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.3M Mar  8  2013 System.map-3.5.0-26-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.3M Mar 25  2013 System.map-3.5.0-27-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.4M Apr 17  2013 System.map-3.8.0-19-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.5M Oct 14 03:50 vmlinuz-3.11.5-031105-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.6M Nov  4 00:53 vmlinuz-3.12.0-031200-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.0M Oct 17  2012 vmlinuz-3.5.0-17-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.0M Jan  8  2013 vmlinuz-3.5.0-22-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.0M Jan 24  2013 vmlinuz-3.5.0-23-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.0M Feb  7  2013 vmlinuz-3.5.0-24-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.0M Feb 25  2013 vmlinuz-3.5.0-25-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.0M Mar  8  2013 vmlinuz-3.5.0-26-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.0M Mar 25  2013 vmlinuz-3.5.0-27-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.2M Apr 17  2013 vmlinuz-3.8.0-19-generic

So my question is: can I safely remove all those files that relate to previous versions of kernels from /boot​, which I think are the ones I highlighted in red, leaving just the ones that relate to the existent kernels in my computer?

Thanks in advance for helping.

[plucky]

You should be able to use

sudo apt-get autoremove

to reduce the number of kernels.

It will keep the current and previous kernel,just in case you need to boot into an earlier kernel.

This was introduced in an earlier release (13.04?).

On earlier releases.I always used Synaptic Package Manager to remove kernels and headers.


Good Luck

[slickymaster]

I would advise you on using Synaptic, also.

[The Cog]

I have also been through an exercise of removing old kernels from /boot like that. I checked with aptitude rather than dpkg though I imagine the results would be the same, then manually deleted all the ones that it didn't think were installed, just as you are suggesting. No harm came of doing so.

And actually, because the default install options create a 500M /boot partition, if you don't clear out in time eventually an upgrade fails partway through because the partition is full. Then it can take hours to clean up the mess - it refuses to either upgrade or downgrade because of broken dependencies. I'm not that familiar with the dependency management, and I think that reinstalling can be the quickest solution when that happens.

[desesperado]

Firstly let me thank you for your answers and helpful advices.

You should be able to use

sudo apt-get autoremove

to reduce the number of kernels.
It will keep the current and previous kernel,just in case you need to boot into an earlier kernel.
This was introduced in an earlier release (13.04?).
On earlier releases.I always used Synaptic Package Manager to remove kernels and headers.
Good Luck

I removed the previous/old kernels using

sudo apt-get purge linux-imagexxxxxx

and that left all those files in my /boot folder, hence why I'm questioning if they're safe for deletion since the kernels that they relate to are no longer in the computer.

I have also been through an exercise of removing old kernels from /boot like that. I checked with aptitude rather than dpkg though I imagine the results would be the same, then manually deleted all the ones that it didn't think were installed, just as you are suggesting. No harm came of doing so.

And actually, because the default install options create a 500M /boot partition, if you don't clear out in time eventually an upgrade fails partway through because the partition is full. Then it can take hours to clean up the mess - it refuses to either upgrade or downgrade because of broken dependencies. I'm not that familiar with the dependency management, and I think that reinstalling can be the quickest solution when that happens.

I'm no expert by all means, just a curios and eager to learn user, but it strikes me as logical that no harm would come of removing them since they were installed by kernels that I already purged from the computer. Is this assumption I'm making correct?

[philinux]

I use this (step 5 is the main bit) now and again to remove all but the latest kernel. I make sure I'm happy with any new kernel. Usually a few days in use.

I always use the dry run in step 5 before doing a purge,

http://tuxtweaks.com/2010/10/remove-...h-one-command/

[desesperado]

I use this (step 5 is the main bit) now and again to remove all but the latest kernel. I make sure I'm happy with any new kernel. Usually a few days in use.

I always use the dry run in step 5 before doing a purge,

http://tuxtweaks.com/2010/10/remove-...h-one-command/

Thanks for you input philinux. I've tried already the dry run you suggested but that doesn't seems to delete the files I mentioned which leaves me pretty much with my initial doubt.

[philinux]

Post the output of the dry run for us. Don't forget the code tags.

[plucky]

Have you tried the

sudo apt-get autoremove

command,as that will also remove any dependencies that are no longer required?

I'm no expert by all means, just a curios and eager to learn user, but it strikes me as logical that no harm would come of removing them since they were installed by kernels that I already purged from the computer. Is this assumption I'm making correct?

I see no problem with removing them now as you have already removed the kernel images.They might still be there as the linux-headers are still installed.

See what the "autoremove" command tells you.

Good Luck

[The Cog]

I'm no expert by all means, just a curios and eager to learn user, but it strikes me as logical that no harm would come of removing them since they were installed by kernels that I already purged from the computer. Is this assumption I'm making correct?

Yes, I think you are correct.
I don't really understand how it came to have all those kernels and initrd files left in /boot when aptitude said they weren't installed, but these were quite old machines (many years out of date) and I think the handling of /boot has improved since then. But even if you remove everything except the kernel that it's currently configured to boot, no harm happens.