Upgrade script which excludes kernel updates

[madwoollything]

Having just broken my wubi 9.10 installation by applying the latest kernel upgrade, I was wondering if it is possible to write a script to apply recommended updates but exclude any new kernel packages.

I'm having to do this manually at present and it must be possible to automate this in Linux.

Any help would be much appreciated. Having read the man pages for apt-get & aptitude I'm still no wiser.

[slakkie]

man apt_preferences :)



pkg2pin () {
[ -z "$1" ] && return
local pkg
local msg
local prefs=/etc/apt/preferences
msg="$(date +'%Y%m%d:%H%M%S')"
for pkg in $@
do
pkg=$(dpkg -l "$pkg" 2>/dev/null)
[ $? -ne 0 ] && continue
pkg=$(echo -e "$pkg" | grep "^ii" |awk '{print $2" "$3}')
echo -e "$pkg" | awk '{print "# Added on '$msg' by pkg2pin or dpkg2pin\nPackage: "$1"\nPin: version "$2"\nPin-Priority: 1001\n"}'
done | sudo tee -a $prefs
}

dpkg2pin () {
[ -z "$1" ] && return
local pkg
pkg=$(dpkg -l | grep "^ii" |awk '{print $2}' | grep "$1")
[ $? -ne 0 ] && return
for i in $pkg
do
pkg2pin $i
done
}


Put that hunk of code in your .bashrc, reload bash or source the file and then:

dpkg2pin linux-image

This will add all the linux-image* packages into the preferences file, which will prevent updates for the kernels. You could also add the header files:

dpkg2pin linux-header

And done.


In action:

aptitude -s safe-upgrade



The following packages have been kept back:
bootchart
The following packages will be upgraded:
linux-headers-generic [2.6.31.15.28 -> 2.6.32.5.5] linux-image-generic [2.6.31.15.28 -> 2.6.32.5.5]
2 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.




dpkg2pin linux-image-generic
# Added on 20091130:182542 by pkg2pin or dpkg2pin
Package: linux-image-generic
Pin: version 2.6.31.15.28
Pin-Priority: 1001

dpkg2pin linux-headers-generic
# Added on 20091130:182548 by pkg2pin or dpkg2pin
Package: linux-headers-generic
Pin: version 2.6.31.15.28
Pin-Priority: 1001



And now do the same upgrade:

aptitude -s safe-upgrade


The following packages have been kept back:
bootchart
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.


No kernel updates for you, if you decide that you want kernel upgrades again, delete the entries from /etc/apt/preferences.

[madwoollything]

Thanks ..... much appreciated