Cannot remove old kernel showing error code 1
I tried to remove my old kernels to make enough free space run updates.
I tried
sudo apt-get purge 4.4.0-81-generic
and it returns
gzip: stdout: No space left on device E: mkinitramfs failure cpio 141
gzip 1 update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-83-generic with 1.
run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools exited with return code 1
Failed to process /etc/kernel/postinst.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-4.4.0-83-generic.postinst line 1052.
dpkg: error processing package linux-image-4.4.0-83-generic (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 2
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-extra-4.4.0-83-generic:
linux-image-extra-4.4.0-83-generic depends on
linux-image-4.4.0-83-generic; however:
Package linux-image-4.4.0-83-generic is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing package linux-image-extra-4.4.0-83-generic (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.122ubuntu8.8) ...
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-81-generic
depmod: WARNING: could not open /var/tmp/mkinitramfs_6MkWbI/lib/modules/4.4.0-81-generic/modules.order: No such file or directory
depmod: WARNING: could not open /var/tmp/mkinitramfs_6MkWbI/lib/modules/4.4.0-81-generic/modules.builtin: No such file or directory
gzip: stdout: No space left on device
E: mkinitramfs failure cpio 141
gzip 1 update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-81-generic with 1.
dpkg: error processing package initramfs-tools (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-4.4.0-83-generic linux-image-extra-4.4.0-83-generic
initramfs-tools
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
How I can solve it?
I am using Ubuntu 16.04 64-bit.
$ ls -l /boot
total 310275
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 1241623 Jul 28 2016 abi-4.4.0-34-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 1242701 Oct 8 2016 abi-4.4.0-42-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 1242701 Oct 19 2016 abi-4.4.0-45-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 1243800 Dec 10 2016 abi-4.4.0-57-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 1244118 Jan 7 06:14 abi-4.4.0-59-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 1244118 Jan 18 21:29 abi-4.4.0-62-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 1245512 Feb 20 19:10 abi-4.4.0-64-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 1246511 Jun 27 01:15 abi-4.4.0-83-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 189676 Jul 28 2016 config-4.4.0-34-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 189760 Oct 8 2016 config-4.4.0-42-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 189760 Oct 19 2016 config-4.4.0-45-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 189991 Dec 10 2016 config-4.4.0-57-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 190047 Jan 7 06:14 config-4.4.0-59-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 190047 Jan 18 21:29 config-4.4.0-62-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 190247 Feb 20 19:10 config-4.4.0-64-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 190356 Jun 27 01:15 config-4.4.0-83-generic
drwx------ 3 root root 4096 Jan 1 1970 efi
drwxr-xr-x 5 prafulla root 1024 Jul 5 17:14 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 39251639 Jul 5 11:53 initrd.img-4.4.0-57-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 39246014 Jul 5 11:53 initrd.img-4.4.0-59-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 39245795 Jul 5 11:53 initrd.img-4.4.0-62-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 39230522 Jul 5 11:52 initrd.img-4.4.0-64-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 10396186 Jul 5 11:52 initrd.img-4.4.0-75-generic
drwx------ 2 prafulla root 12288 May 11 2016 lost+found
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 182704 Jan 28 2016 memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 184380 Jan 28 2016 memtest86+.elf
-rw-r--r-- 1 prafulla root 184840 Jan 28 2016 memtest86+_multiboot.bin
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 3866644 Jul 28 2016 System.map-4.4.0-34-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 3869895 Oct 8 2016 System.map-4.4.0-42-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 3869895 Oct 19 2016 System.map-4.4.0-45-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 3875329 Dec 10 2016 System.map-4.4.0-57-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 3875594 Jan 7 06:14 System.map-4.4.0-59-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 3875553 Jan 18 21:29 System.map-4.4.0-62-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 3883990 Feb 20 19:10 System.map-4.4.0-64-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 3883887 Jun 27 01:15 System.map-4.4.0-83-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7046160 Jul 28 2016 vmlinuz-4.4.0-34-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7048088 Aug 19 2016 vmlinuz-4.4.0-34-generic.efi.signed
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7053472 Oct 8 2016 vmlinuz-4.4.0-42-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7055384 Oct 13 2016 vmlinuz-4.4.0-42-generic.efi.signed
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7054208 Oct 19 2016 vmlinuz-4.4.0-45-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7056120 Nov 8 2016 vmlinuz-4.4.0-45-generic.efi.signed
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7067152 Dec 10 2016 vmlinuz-4.4.0-57-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7069080 Dec 27 2016 vmlinuz-4.4.0-57-generic.efi.signed
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7069136 Jan 7 06:14 vmlinuz-4.4.0-59-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7071064 Jan 11 12:51 vmlinuz-4.4.0-59-generic.efi.signed
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7070992 Jan 18 21:29 vmlinuz-4.4.0-62-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7072920 Feb 7 11:48 vmlinuz-4.4.0-62-generic.efi.signed
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7087152 Feb 20 19:10 vmlinuz-4.4.0-64-generic
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7089080 Feb 24 11:07 vmlinuz-4.4.0-64-generic.efi.signed
-rw------- 1 prafulla root 7092720 Jun 27 01:15 vmlinuz-4.4.0-83-generic
$ sudo rm config-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic abi-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic initrd.img-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic System.map4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic
rm: cannot remove 'config-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'abi-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'initrd.img-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'System.map4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic': No such file or directory
Solution 1:
Delete it manually to create space and run the commands afterwards.
This will list you all installed kernels without the one currently in use
dpkg -l | tail -n +6 | grep -E 'linux-image-[0-9]+' | grep -Fv $(uname -r)
Once you know the name of the packages you can purge them with dpkg e.g.
sudo dpkg --purge linux-image-4.4.0-21-generic
After removing all your old kernels you may want to repair your broken dependecies by running:
sudo apt -f install
If nothing works cd into your /boot and delete them manually with your rm command. Careful with it though you don't want to delete the currently used one...
sudo rm config-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic abi-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic initrd.img-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic System.map-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic vmlinuz-4.4.0-[3,4,5][4,2,5,7,9]-generic*