My /boot partition hit 100% and now I can't upgrade. Can't remove old kernels to make room

Question

My first issue was when I tried to apt-get update/upgrade. On upgrade I get the following error:

You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
linux-image-server : Depends: linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic but it is not installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try using -f.

I tried running apt-get install -f and this was the output(after saying yes on prompt)

(Reading database ... 186183 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic (from .../linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic_3.2.0-27.43_amd64.deb) ...
Done.
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic_3.2.0-27.43_amd64.deb (--unpack):
 failed in write on buffer copy for backend dpkg-deb during `./boot/System.map-3.2.0-27-generic': No space left on device
 No apport report written because the error message indicates a disk full error
                                                                          dpkg-deb:    error: subprocess paste was killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d .
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.2.0-27-generic   /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-27-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.2.0-27-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-27-generic
Errors were encountered while processing:
/var/cache/apt/archives/linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic_3.2.0-27.43_amd64.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I tried running apt-get autoremove and it gives me the same error as apt-get upgrade

When I run df, I get this for /boot:

/dev/sda1                    233191     230297         0 100% /boot

So, I read elsewhere that I should try to purge old kernals. I checked for what kernals I had with

dpkg -l linux-image-\* | grep ^ii

It returns

ii  linux-image-2.6.38-13-server  2.6.38-13.52  Linux kernel image for version 2.6.38 on x86_64
ii  linux-image-3.0.0-13-server   3.0.0-13.22   Linux kernel image for version 3.0.0  on x86_64
ii  linux-image-3.0.0-14-server   3.0.0-14.23   Linux kernel image for version 3.0.0  on x86_64
ii  linux-image-3.0.0-15-server   3.0.0-15.26   Linux kernel image for version 3.0.0  on x86_64
ii  linux-image-3.0.0-16-server   3.0.0-16.29   Linux kernel image for version 3.0.0  on x86_64
ii  linux-image-3.0.0-17-server   3.0.0-17.30   Linux kernel image for version 3.0.0  on x86_64
ii  linux-image-3.2.0-24-generic  3.2.0-24.39   Linux kernel image for version 3.2.0  on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-image-3.2.0-25-generic  3.2.0-25.40   Linux kernel image for version 3.2.0  on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-image-3.2.0-26-generic  3.2.0-26.41   Linux kernel image for version 3.2.0  on 64 bit x86 SMP

So, when I try to remove the oldest with this:

sudo apt-get purge linux-image-2.6.38-13-server

I get the error:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
linux-image-server : Depends: linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic but it is not going to be     installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

How can I free up / extend boot without messing up my installation?

Answer 1

Freeing Up Space on the Root File System

To free up space on the root file system you can try to execute apt-get clean.

If that doesn't work you can go to /var/cache/apt/archives and manually remove a few files from the cache to get some space back, e.g.:

sudo rm linux-headers-*

It won't hurt to remove all of the .deb files here if you need to--that is what apt-get clean does. They will be automatically be re-downloaded by apt if they are again needed.

Freeing Up Space on the /boot File System

The Original Poster has a separate /boot partition, and that is what is full and preventing the apt system from working. It will be necessary for him to free up space there.

If there almost enough space, go to /boot and remove a config file or two:

sudo rm config-3.2.0-19-generic-pae

for example, but using the name of one of the kernel versions you intend to remove anyway. This will free up a little space (about 144K apiece).

If you need more space individually remove old vmlinuz initrd, abi and System.map files until you have enough space (about 22 megs for one of my i386 kernel versions).

Whatever you do, don't remove them all. You should at least keep the latest two matching versions of each kind of file, for each kind of kernel you use.

Then proceed with your apt-get install commands. As mentioned above they may have to re-download some of the debs you deleted, but if so that will happen automatically. When you have apt working again, clean up by using apt-get to remove the packages corresponding to the files you removed--so everything matches.

---

The config file in /boot is the kernel config that was used by the kernel team to build the kernel of the same name. It should be harmless to remove unless you want it for reference or to aid you in building your own kernels.

Finally you are manually removing an old kernel package or two from the /boot partition to make even more room for the new one.

Answer 2

In my case, the apt commands and dpkg command could not finish, and could not remove. The autoupdate had failed on installing 2.6.32-56-server.

My first step, was to identify space to be used,

cd /boot
du -sk *|sort -n

I had about 30 kernels and supporting files.

I did a uname -a to get the running kernel, I identified that I was on Linux alternate 2.6.32-43-server and did a tar of 6 of the versions that were not running, and were old.

tar -cvf ~username/boot.tar *2.6.32-44-server *2.6.32-45-server *2.6.32-46-server *2.6.32-47-server *2.6.32-48-server *2.6.32-49-server

I then did a rm -rf of what I had backed up

rm -rf *2.6.32-44-server *2.6.32-45-server *2.6.32-46-server *2.6.32-47-server *2.6.32-48-server *2.6.32-49-server

I am showing these commands as examples, you will have to decide what you will work with for your situation.

Now that I had some space on /boot, I was able to run

apt-get -f install 

To clean up the failed install of 2.6.32-56-server.

I then did a

apt-get remove linux-headers-2.6.32-38 linux-headers-2.6.32-38-server linux-image-2.6.32-38-server
apt-get remove linux-headers-2.6.32-39 linux-headers-2.6.32-39-server linux-image-2.6.32-39-server

This gave me room to put back what I had backed up.

tar -xf ~username/boot.tar
rm  ~username/boot.tar    

To clean up, I then could run:

apt-get autoremove

I rebooted and am now down to using 4% of /boot.

Answer 3

You can use dpkg instead of apt-get to remove older kernels:

sudo dpkg -r linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic

Answer 4

Here's the process I used to clean this up.

I noticed there were still some files of the old versions in the boot directory

$ ls /boot
vmcoreinfo-2.6.31-17-server

And the package manager would list the old versions

dpkg -l | grep linux-image

I therefore used this command (autoremove would also remove more recent images I don't want to remove)

sudo apt-get purge linux-image-2.6.31-17-server

I had still some headers left

dpkg -l | grep linux-headers

So I did this:

sudo apt-get purge linux-headers-2.6.32-34

Finally there was one package left I couldn't remove with apt-get purge

$ dpkg -l | grep linux-image
rc  linux-image-2.6.28-11-server

Thanks to the following thread I did it the following way: Remove a package marked as rc by dpkg

sudo dpkg --purge linux-image-2.6.28-11-server

Answer 5

You cannot act upon packages, but you can act upon other files. First, go through your home folder and see whether there is anything you can delete. If not, try to move a good amount of files to another partition(or a flash drive) and then try sudo apt-get install -f to clean up the package dependency issues(most likely you installed a .deb file through dpkg), and then purge any kernels. Once you safely have at least 10 MB, try purging unneeded software or files.

Answer 6

Use Synaptic Package Manager. Just pick the package you want removed and it will prompt you to also remove packages that depend on it. In my experience, kernel packages always come in groups of two (or more, depending on how you count) that are interdependant. You can usually find old ones quickly by using the "local/obsolete" filter.

Answer 7

I know this is an answer to an old question but it does not hurt to share my experience this is would it worked for me:

sudo apt-get autoremove linux-image-xxxx

Do that for all old kernels and only keep the last most recent two...

This would automatically remove the kernel and update grub see this: Ubuntu Documentation

Answer 8

Im try using @John S Gruber way and it not work (more error, and plz dont delete kernel carelessly, its hurt to repair). Finally I found solution here -> I get this error after upgade. please help. I just run this (check link for full description) :

sudo apt-get autoremove
sudo apt-get --purge remove && sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -a

And it work like a charm! Hope this help :)

Answer 9

I found that the only thing that worked for me was using Aptitude.

sudo aptitude

Then when it opens it will usually say something about unmet dependencies on the bottom. You can hit the letter "g" without the quotes to proceed with the suggested removal. It will take you to a page where it lists what is going to happen.

There should be a minus "-" next to the broken kernels. Press "g" again and it will remove the broken kernels. Press "q" to quit. Then you should be able to use apt-get autoremove to get rid of the old kernels and free up space.

Cheers!

Answer 10

check tmp file size with du -sh /var/tmp/. All files in that folder can be deleted to make space.

sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt install byobu
sudo purge-old-kernels
sudo apt autoremove
sudo update-grub