/boot folder full, which to remove, how to maximize space

[anotherusername2]

I have been trying to update but my /boot folder seems to be full again. I had posted once about this here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2303580), thinking it was a one-time thing, but I have the same problem again. To avoid the inconvenience of (probably) having this problem from time to time, is it OK if I remove the three or four oldest kernels? (I'm a beginner, so I'm just basing this on the solutions given to me in the other thread.) Is it safe to take out as many as you can?

me@me-PORTEGE-M600:~$ sudo apt-get autoremove
[sudo] password for me:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 33 not upgraded.
me@me-PORTEGE-M600:~$ df -h /boot
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 236M 158M 67M 71% /boot
me@me-PORTEGE-M600:~$ ls -lhA /boot
total 149M
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.2M Sep 9 19:36 abi-3.16.0-49-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.2M Oct 3 08:19 abi-3.16.0-50-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.2M Oct 8 00:58 abi-3.16.0-51-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.2M Nov 7 04:36 abi-3.16.0-53-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 173K Sep 9 19:36 config-3.16.0-49-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 173K Oct 3 08:19 config-3.16.0-50-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 173K Oct 8 00:58 config-3.16.0-51-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 173K Nov 7 04:36 config-3.16.0-53-generic
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 1.0K Nov 21 10:26 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 28M Sep 28 17:10 initrd.img-3.16.0-49-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 28M Oct 17 07:39 initrd.img-3.16.0-50-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 28M Oct 24 09:12 initrd.img-3.16.0-51-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 28M Nov 21 10:26 initrd.img-3.16.0-53-generic
drwx------ 2 root root 12K Sep 28 02:00 lost+found
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 173K Mar 12 2014 memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 174K Mar 12 2014 memtest86+.elf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 175K Mar 12 2014 memtest86+_multiboot.bin
-rw------- 1 root root 2.7M Sep 9 19:36 System.map-3.16.0-49-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.7M Oct 3 08:19 System.map-3.16.0-50-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.7M Oct 8 00:58 System.map-3.16.0-51-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 2.7M Nov 7 04:36 System.map-3.16.0-53-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.8M Sep 9 19:36 vmlinuz-3.16.0-49-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.8M Oct 3 08:19 vmlinuz-3.16.0-50-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.8M Oct 8 00:58 vmlinuz-3.16.0-51-generic
-rw------- 1 root root 5.8M Nov 7 04:36 vmlinuz-3.16.0-53-generic

[ian-weisser]

is it OK if I remove the three or four oldest kernels?
[...]
Is it safe to take out as many as you can?
No. It's possible to remove too many and leave your system unbootable.
Use the 'uname' command to determine your curently running kernel. Do not remove it under any circumstances.
Most old-timers here quite rightly recommend leaving one older kernel as well, to ensure a recovery option if the current kernel fails.

Running autoremove generally does not work when you run out of space. Apt will try to install packages awaiting installation first, which fails becasue of the lack of space.
You must schedule and run autoremove regularly before you run out of space.

Ubuntu marks older kernels as eligible for autoremoval, but does not actually do the autoremoval by default.
You can configure the 'unattended-upgrades' to do all the maintenance automatically every day (my preferred solution), or you can do so manually anytime you wish...except when you're out of space and have packages awaiting install.

[anotherusername2]

You must schedule and run autoremove regularly before you run out of space.
...
You can configure the 'unattended-upgrades' to do all the maintenance automatically every day (my preferred solution)...

Thanks. How do I do those?

[grahammechanical]

You actually only have 4 kernels. 3.16.0-49: 3.16.0-50; 3.16.0-51; 3.16.0-53. What we call a "kernel" is actually a small set of kernel related files. And the ones you should keep are 3.16.0-53 & 3.16.0-51. They are the 2 latest kernels.Check that they both load to a working desktop.

We do that by selecting Advanced options for Ubuntu at the Grub boot menu. The first kernel on the list should be the default kernel (which should be 3.16.0-53). But you will see the other kernels listed and we can select them also if we need to. You will also see kernels with recovery mode as an option. It is still the same number of kernels but with different boot parameters.

Selecting recovery mode will bring up a menu that has an option called "clean - try to make free space." That will run both apt-get autoremove and apt-get clean. That might get you somewhere.

This shows us how to remove specific kernels when at the desktop & using the terminal.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Documentation/RemoveOldKernels

(https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Documentation/RemoveOldKernels)Regards