why is linux-image never upgraded by 'apt-get dist-upgrade' ?

[jason-vas-dias]

Good day - sorry if this question has been answered somewhere before, but I couldn't find it -
I'd like to understand why my Ubuntu "14.04.1 LTS, Trusty Tahr" x86_64 (Haswell) system
never upgrades the kernel automatically as part of the 'apt-get dist-upgrade' process.
The updated kernel is not even shown in 'dpkg-query -l 'linux-image*' , and I have
to specifically request it , as happened again this morning :


$ apt-get dist-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libssh2-1 libtar0 libx265-27 libx265-30 linux-headers-3.13.0-34
linux-headers-3.13.0-34-generic linux-tools-3.13.0-30
linux-tools-3.13.0-30-generic linux-tools-3.13.0-32
linux-tools-3.13.0-32-generic linux-tools-3.13.0-34
linux-tools-3.13.0-34-generic vlc-plugin-pulse
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
linux-headers-3.13.0-36 linux-headers-3.13.0-36-generic
linux-tools-3.13.0-36 linux-tools-3.13.0-36-generic
The following packages will be upgraded:
apt apt-transport-https apt-utils chromium-browser chromium-browser-l10n
chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra dbus dbus-x11 libapt-inst1.5 libapt-pkg4.12
libdbus-1-3 libdbus-1-3:i386 libdbus-1-dev linux-doc linux-headers-generic
linux-libc-dev linux-tools-common linux-tools-generic linux-tools-virtual
19 upgraded, 4 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 72.0 MB of archives.
After this operation, 70.7 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
...

This upgrade completed OK, but did NOT install the new kernel.

Now I could see there were new 'linux-headers' and 'linux-tools' packages available,
(but not for the 3.13.0-36 version!)
so I had to guess 'Aha! there must be a new kernel ..' and specifically request it - it
wasn't even listed in available packages:



$ dpkg-query -l 'linux-image*'
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Architecture Description
+++-================================================== ===-===============================-===============================-================================================== ================================================== ===========
un linux-image <none> <none> (no description available)
un linux-image-3.0 <none> <none> (no description available)
rc linux-image-3.13.0-24-generic 3.13.0-24.47 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc linux-image-3.13.0-30-generic 3.13.0-30.55 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-32-generic 3.13.0-32.57 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-32-lowlatency 3.13.0-32.57 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-35-generic 3.13.0-35.62 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-35-lowlatency 3.13.0-35.62 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc linux-image-extra-3.13.0-24-generic 3.13.0-24.47 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc linux-image-extra-3.13.0-30-generic 3.13.0-30.55 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-extra-3.13.0-35-generic 3.13.0-35.62 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP


But if I actually ask for the latest kernel, it magically appears :


$ apt-get install linux-image-3.13.0-36-lowlatency linux-headers-3.13.0-36-lowlatency
...
The following NEW packages will be installed:
linux-image-3.13.0-36-lowlatency
linux-headers-3.13.0-36-lowlatency
...
done


ie. the last upgrade succeeded in installing the linux-image-3.13.0-36-lowlatency and linux-headers-3.13.0-36-lowlatency packages, which
were not even listed in 'dpkg-query -l linux-*' .
So the questions arise:

1. How can I ensure that 'dpkg-query -l' is showing me ALL available packages ? ( it evidently isn't wrt linux-image /linux-header packages ).
2. How can I ensure that the kernel is automatically upgraded along with other packages ? (it isn't unless I specifically request a particular new kernel package, whose name I have to guess because it is not listed).

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks & Regards,
Jason

[matt_symes]

Hi

I have to be honest, i have only read the very first part of your post, however..

You don't have the linux-image-generic package installed.

Other kernels are a dependency of this so installing this will allow you to update the kernel using dist upgrade.


sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic

Kind regards

[matt_symes]

Hi

If i understand you other question correctly, dpkg shows you what you have installed and not what is available

To see what is available then use apt-cache search but remember to use apt-get update first.

Here's an example from my system. BTW, I use many aliases that i will show first.

This is what i have installed on my system.


matthew-laptop:/home/matthew:5 % fa ^dli
dli='dpkg -l | grep -i'
matthew-laptop:/home/matthew:5 % dli linux-image
rc linux-image-3.13.0-32-generic 3.13.0-32.57 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-34-generic 3.13.0-34.60 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc linux-image-3.13.0-35-generic 3.13.0-35.62 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-36-generic 3.13.0-36.63 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc linux-image-extra-3.13.0-32-generic 3.13.0-32.57 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-extra-3.13.0-34-generic 3.13.0-34.60 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc linux-image-extra-3.13.0-35-generic 3.13.0-35.62 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-extra-3.13.0-36-generic 3.13.0-36.63 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-generic 3.13.0.36.43 amd64 Generic Linux kernel image
matthew-laptop:/home/matthew:5 %

This is what is available.



matthew-laptop:/home/matthew:5 % fa acse
acse='apt-cache search'
matthew-laptop:/home/matthew:5 % acse linux-image | head -n10
linux-image-3.13.0-24-generic - Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
linux-image-3.13.0-24-lowlatency - Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
linux-image-extra-3.13.0-24-generic - Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
linux-image-extra-virtual - Transitional package.
linux-image-generic - Generic Linux kernel image
linux-image-generic-lts-quantal - Generic Linux kernel image
linux-image-generic-lts-raring - Generic Linux kernel image
linux-image-generic-lts-saucy - Generic Linux kernel image
linux-image-generic-lts-trusty - Generic Linux kernel image
linux-image-lowlatency - lowlatency Linux kernel image
matthew-laptop:/home/matthew:5 % acse linux-image | wc -l
41
matthew-laptop:/home/matthew:5 %

I have only shown the first 10 of 41 available kernels.

Kind regards

[matt_symes]

Hi

Just to clarify my first post, here the linux-image-generic package description.



matthew-laptop:/home/matthew:5 % fa acsh
acsh='apt-cache show'
matthew-laptop:/home/matthew:5 % acsh linux-image-generic | grep -A2 Description-en
Description-en: Generic Linux kernel image
This package will always depend on the latest generic kernel image
available.
--
Description-en: Generic Linux kernel image
This package will always depend on the latest generic kernel image
available.
matthew-laptop:/home/matthew:5 %


Kind regards

[jason-vas-dias]

Thanks for the prompt reply , Matt -
But I don't think that can be the issue, since 'linux-image-3.13.0-35-generic' WAS installed before I did either 'apt-get dist-upgrade' OR 'dpkg-query -l "linux-image*"' .
Here are the kernels I now have installed :
<code>
$ dpkg-query -l 'linux-image*'
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Architecture Description
+++-================================================== ===-===============================-===============================-================================================== ================================================== ===========
un linux-image <none> <none> (no description available)
un linux-image-3.0 <none> <none> (no description available)
rc linux-image-3.13.0-24-generic 3.13.0-24.47 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc linux-image-3.13.0-30-generic 3.13.0-30.55 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-32-generic 3.13.0-32.57 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-32-lowlatency 3.13.0-32.57 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-35-generic 3.13.0-35.62 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-35-lowlatency 3.13.0-35.62 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-36-generic 3.13.0-36.63 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-3.13.0-36-lowlatency 3.13.0-36.63 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc linux-image-extra-3.13.0-24-generic 3.13.0-24.47 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc linux-image-extra-3.13.0-30-generic 3.13.0-30.55 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-extra-3.13.0-35-generic 3.13.0-35.62 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-image-extra-3.13.0-36-generic 3.13.0-36.63 amd64 Linux kernel extra modules for version 3.13.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
</code>

In any case, my query is really how to make 'dpkg-query -l' report on ALL AVAILABLE PACKAGES , which it evidently is not doing .
Or is there some other command I should be using to list available packages ?

[matt_symes]

Hi

You don't have linux-image-generic package installed.

Open up a terminal and type


sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic

This will pull in new kernels using a dist-upgrade.

BTW: You use code tags like this.


text

Kind regards

[jason-vas-dias]

OK, I installed the linux-image-generic package . But how was I meant to know that it was available ?
It was not listed in 'dpkg-query -l linux-image*' until I installed it with 'apt-get install linux-image-generic' .
If dpkg-query -l is NOT meant to be listing available but uninstalled packages, it has a bug - it lists MANY uninstalled packages.
If it is meant to be listing available packages, it has a bug, because it does not list available kernel packages.
Is there any command I can use to get a listing of ALL available packages, like 'dpkg-query -l', with one entry
per line, showing the package name, version, and a brief description ?
Incidentally, 'apt-cache show' seems to be unusable for this purpose - it dumps the long multi-line entries for each
package, and does not honor its documented '--names-only' option , and seems to have no 'names + version only' option.
So one is meant to write scripts to parse apt-cache long output to get a list of available packages ?
Is there no equivalent to 'yum list available' ?

[matt_symes]

Hi


In any case, my query is really how to make 'dpkg-query -l' report on ALL AVAILABLE PACKAGES , which it evidently is not doing .

To answer your other question - sorry i was bidding on a new gigabit switch on ebay; didn't get it :

Do you do want to list all the packages installed on your system ?

If so, use this command.


dpkg -l

Do you want to list all the packages available in all the repositories and PPAs you have listed in /etc/apt/sources.list{,.d/*} . ie. all available packages ?

If so, try this command.


apt-cache search ^

If you want to use dpkg-query to list all available installed and not installed packages on your system that dpkg sees, try this command.


dpkg-query -l "*"

Maybe i'm not really understanding what you want and that's most probably because i have not had my requisite number of cups of coffee yet today :)

Kind regards