kernel-default (System Packages) left over from previous kernel

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1

zyyper se -si ‘kernel*’ shows that I have one leftover package from a previous kernel, despite upgrading Tumbleweed only through zypper dup.

S  | Name                        | Type    | Version      | Arch   | Repository
---+-----------------------------+---------+--------------+--------+----------------------
i+ | kernel-default              | package | 5.6.14-1.6   | x86_64 | (System Packages)
i+ | kernel-default              | package | 5.7.5-1.2    | x86_64 | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-default-devel        | package | 5.7.5-1.2    | x86_64 | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-devel                | package | 5.7.5-1.2    | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-all         | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-amdgpu      | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-ath10k      | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-atheros     | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-bluetooth   | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-bnx2        | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-brcm        | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-chelsio     | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-dpaa2       | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-i915        | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-intel       | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-iwlwifi     | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-liquidio    | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-marvell     | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-media       | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-mediatek    | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-mellanox    | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-mwifiex     | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-network     | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-nfp         | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-nvidia      | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-platform    | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-qlogic      | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-radeon      | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-realtek     | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-serial      | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-sound       | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-ti          | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-ueagle      | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-firmware-usb-network | package | 20200610-1.1 | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-macros               | package | 5.7.5-1.2    | noarch | Main Repository (OSS)
i  | kernel-syms                 | package | 5.7.5-1.1    | x86_64 | (System Packages)
i  | kernel-syms                 | package | 5.7.5-1.2    | x86_64 | Main Repository (OSS)

Is this “(System Packages)” from the 5.6 kernel an outlier, than can be left as is? Can I safely remove it, with zypper rm kernel-default-5.6.14-1.6?

FWIW: when I zypper dup’d a laptop the other day, it also has a previous kernel in place for this package … but 5.7.2 on the laptop, rather than 5.6.14.

The related line from /etc/zypp/zypp.conf is:

multiversion.kernels = latest,running
2

Yes, and Yes, it does no harm and you can safely remove it.

FWIW: when I zypper dup’d a laptop the other day, it also has a previous kernel in place for this package … but 5.7.2 on the laptop, rather than 5.6.14.

That depends on how often you “zypper dup’ed” on the desktop, maybe you missed the last few updates and an older kernel remained there as the backup.

The related line from /etc/zypp/zypp.conf is:

multiversion.kernels = latest,running

That looks fair. Since there was some change recently on the purge-kernel service and I’m not a regular Tumbleweed user, maybe there are still hiccups there and I better let regular TW users to comment on that.

3

Kernels are never replaced, they are always installed side by side. If new version fails to boot, you want to have something working to fall back to.

multiversion.kernels = latest,running

Did you reboot since installing your current kernel?

4

Well … sometimes there are problems that you notice only after some time. In which case it is good to have previous working version. The “latest,running” will remove everything else as soon as you boot into the latest installed version.

Actually I wish zypper supported “previous major version” to automatically preserve e.g. 5.6.x after 5.7.y is installed. Currently one needs to edit zypp.conf every time.

5

I do it the other way. I put “oldest” in the list of kernels to retain.

When a 5.7 kernel was installed, I manually deleted my 5.5.x kernel. That leaves 5.6.x as the oldest. No need to keep editing “zypp.conf”, but I do occasionally need to do a manual kernel removal.

At present, I have disabled the “purge-kernels” service, so I have to do manual removals anyway. That’s because purge-kernels is currently broken – see Bug 1173106. (It is broken in both Tumbleweed and Leap 15.2).

6

Thanks for the replies, OrsoBruno, arvidjaar and nrickert. I just ran zypper rm to get rid of the 5.6* (System Packages), and now think it must have been linked in some way to the corefreq program. I had to remove corefreq and corefreq-kmp-default at the same time.

(I never used corefreq, so didn’t miss the loss.)

FWIW, I zypper dup this main computer whenever a new snapshot arrives, and always reboot afterward.