How can I edit my Grub bootloader entries (Hide, Rename, Remove)? Preferably doing it manually, and not with a program

Question

So basically I have a pretty flooded Grub bootloader, with older linux versions, 3 operating systems and memtests. What I want is to leave the operating systems only. I need to know how to do it manually, and I need someone to tell me what should I be aware of when a new kernel is released. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The blog post GRUB2 revisited will provide you with a blow-by-blow set of instructions on how to manually edit GRUB2's configuration files. If you check the other postings in the series (by filtering on Category = GRUB) you will also find information on removing old kernels and what happens when a new kernel arrives as an update. The postings include references to a number of related web sites.

Answer 2

Rather than edit the grub file directly, you should clean up the kernels you don't want.

Start with this:

dpkg -l | grep linux-image

The update-grub script just makes entries for everything it finds in /boot, as far as I'm aware, so removing old linux-image (and linux-headers) packages via apt-get remove will clean up /boot and therefore clean up your grub config.

This is the "proper" way to do it and hence will require no special action when newer kernels are released in the future, you'll just have to clean up again at some point probably :)

Answer 3

Depending on your grub version, you could use the StartUpManager application to maintain your grub menu. Its Advanced Tab settings allow selecting / deselecting a Memtest / Recovery boot entry and also the number of kernel versions. With grub2, "the Appearance and Advanced tabs contain fewer entries at present, and the Security tab does not exist with Grub 2 fully-installed." (see here, "Grub 2 Note").