deKernel

(Especially when they have built up over time and are wasting disk space.)

• With RubyGems:

  1. gem install dekernel
  2. dekernel (or dekernel --dry-run to tell apt-get to only pretend to make changes.)
  3. Follow the directions! It will confirm with you before making any changes.

• Without rubygems:

  1. git clone git@github.com:snarlysodboxer/deKernel.git
  2. cd deKernel
  3. ./bin/dekernel (or ./bin/dekernel --dry-run to tell apt-get to only pretend to make changes.)
  4. Follow the directions! It will confirm with you before making any changes.

• -s, --dry-run Pass the '--dry-run' option to apt-get. This option can be used in combination with any of the other commands.
• -y, --assume-yes Pass the --assume-yes option to apt-get. This option can be used in combination with any of the other commands.
• -n, --no-confirm Skip the "Are you sure?" step. Useful for scripting. Use this with caution. This option can be used in combination with any of the other commands.
• -x, --all-except NUMBER Pass the number of latest kernels to leave installed, the rest are marked for removal.
• -k, --kernels-list 'LIST' Pass a quoted, space separated list of kernel numbers to be removed. I.E. --kernels-list '3.2.0-8 3.2.0-11'. This option is ignored if you pass the --all-except option.

• dekernel -x 3 to auto-mark all but the latest three kernels. The marked kernels will be displayed and you will still be asked to confirm.
• dekernel -x 3 -y -n -s to simulate removing all but the three latest kernels without any confirmation. Remove the -s to actually use this command inside you're own program without user feedback.
• dekernel -k '3.2.0-11 3.2.0-8' -y -n to remove the '3.2.0-11' and '3.2.0-8' kernels without confirmation. Again, you could use this command inside you're own program without user feedback.

• This is currently only tested on Ubuntu systems. I welcome pull requests to make it compatible with other releases.
• This code essentially automates three commands for you:
  1. We ls /boot to gather a list of present vmlinuz kernels.
  2. We use dpkg-query -f '${Package}\n' -W *[pass in each present kernel]* to find which installed packages belong to those present kernels.
  3. We use sudo apt-get purge [packages list] to remove those packages.