How can I get APT to "ignore" a package?

I am running a VPS using Debian unstable with this kernel version:

2.6.32-274.7.1.el5.028stab095.1

I just upgraded my packages and for some odd reason APT wants me to install linux-image-3.2.0-3-amd64, which is strange, seeing as I can't modify the kernel as it's a VPS. I tried installing it anyway, but as I suspected it didn't work:

root@youmu:~# apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? Y
Setting up linux-image-3.2.0-3-amd64 (3.2.23-1) ...
Running depmod.
vmlinuz(/boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-3-amd64
) points to /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-3-amd64
 (/boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-3-amd64) -- doing nothing at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-3-amd64.postinst line 268.
initrd.img(/boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-3-amd64
) points to /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-3-amd64
 (/boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-3-amd64) -- doing nothing at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-3-amd64.postinst line 268.
Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools 3.2.0-3-amd64 /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-3-amd64
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-3-amd64
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub 3.2.0-3-amd64 /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-3-amd64
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... Generating /boot/grub/default file and setting the default boot entry to 0
entry not specified.
run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1
Failed to process /etc/kernel/postinst.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-3-amd64.postinst line 696.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-3.2.0-3-amd64 (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 linux-image-3.2.0-3-amd64
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
root@youmu:~# 

So I tried to remove it, but it still failed.

I am wondering if there is a way to get APT to ignore a package as if it didn't exist so it won't bug me every time I install a package. I tried putting the package on hold but it still wants to re-configure it.

Any suggestions?

End of postinst file:

## Run user hook script here, if any
if ($postinst_hook) {
  &run_hook("postinst", $postinst_hook);
}

if (-d "/etc/kernel/postinst.d") {
  print STDERR "Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d.\n";
  system ("run-parts --verbose --exit-on-error --arg=$version " .
          "--arg=$realimageloc$kimage-$version " .
          "/etc/kernel/postinst.d") &&
            die "Failed to process /etc/kernel/postinst.d";
}

if (-d "/etc/kernel/postinst.d/$version") {
  print STDERR "Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d/$version.\n";
  system ("run-parts --verbose --exit-on-error --arg=$version " .
          "--arg=$realimageloc$kimage-$version " .
          "/etc/kernel/postinst.d/$version") &&
            die "Failed to process /etc/kernel/postinst.d/$version";
}

exit 0;

__END__

Solution 1:

As a temporary, comment out the exec update-grub in the /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub by running:

$ sudo sed -i.bak '/exec update-grub/s/^/#/' /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub

then run the configuration script:

$ sudo dpkg --configure -a

If it works, you can restore the zz-update-grub file to its original content.