KERNEL-IMG.CONF(5) (24 March 2019) KERNEL-IMG.CONF(5)
NAME
kernel-img.conf - configuration file for Linux kernel
packages
SYNOPSIS
/etc/kernel-img.conf
DESCRIPTION
The file /etc/kernel-img.conf is used by the kernel package
installation and removal process to allow local options for
handling some aspects of the installation. Most configura-
tion variables apply only to kernel image packages.
Not all kernel image package creators support this file, or
all the configuration variables. Support status for the
file itself is: nokeep; l l. Package creator Status
Debian linux source package supported Ubuntu linux source
package supported kernel-package supported make
deb-pkg ignored
The format of the file is a simple VAR=VALUE pair. Boolean
values may be specified as Yes, True, 1, and No, False, 0,
and are case insensitive. This file is automatically cre-
ated by the installation script in certain circumstances.
At the moment, the user modifiable variables supported are:
do_symlinks
If set, the postinst and postrm scripts will maintain
symlinks to default kernel and initramfs images, as
described in linux-update-symlinks(8). This variable
is set by default. nokeep; l l. Package
creator Status Debian linux source
package supported Ubuntu linux source
package supported kernel-package ignored since
v12.001; previously supported
image_dest
Set this variable to the directory in which symlinks to
the default kernel and initramfs images should be main-
tained. The default value is /. nokeep; l l.
Package creator Status Debian linux source
package supported Ubuntu linux source
package supported kernel-package ignored since
v12.001; previously supported
link_in_boot
If set, this has the same effect as image_dest = /boot
and overrides any other setting of image_dest. This
variable is unset by default. nokeep; l l. Package
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KERNEL-IMG.CONF(5) (24 March 2019) KERNEL-IMG.CONF(5)
creator Status Debian linux source
package supported Ubuntu linux source
package supported kernel-package ignored since
v12.001; previously supported
postinst_hook
DEPRECATED: Set this variable to a script to be exe-
cuted during installation. The path can be a relative
path if the script lives in a safe path -- that is, if
it lives in /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, or /usr/sbin, or
must be an absolute path instead. Before calling this
script, the environment variable STEM shall be set to
the value of the --stem argument (or the default value,
linux), and in packages created by kernel-package
KERNEL_PACKAGE_VERSION shall be set to the version of
the kernel-package that created the package. This
script shall be called with two arguments, the first
being the version of the kernel image, and the second
argument being the location of the kernel image itself.
Errors in the script shall cause the postinst to fail.
Since debconf is in use before the script is called,
this script should issue no diagnostic messages to std-
out -- while the postinst does call db_stop, debconf
does not restore stdout, so messages to stdout disap-
pear. An example script for grub users is present in
/usr/share/doc/kernel-package/ directory. This script
is run after the scripts in /etc/kernel/postinst.d
directory. nokeep; l l. Package creator Status
Debian linux source package unsupported since
v4.6.1-1; previously supported Ubuntu linux source
package unsupported since v4.15.0-18.19; previ-
ously supported kernel-package deprecated
postrm_hook
DEPRECATED: Set this variable to a script to be exe-
cuted in the postrm (that is, after the image has been
removed) after all the remove actions have been per-
formed. The path can be a relative path if the script
lives in a safe path -- that is, if it lives in /bin,
/sbin, /usr/bin, or /usr/sbin, or must be an absolute
path instead. In packages created by kernel-package,
the environment variable KERNEL_PACKAGE_VERSION shall
be set to the version of the kernel-package that cre-
ated the package. This script shall be called with two
arguments, the first being the version of the kernel
image, and the second argument being the location of
the kernel image itself. Errors in the script shall
produce a warning message, but shall be otherwise
ignored. Since debconf is in use before the script is
called, this script should issue no diagnostic messages
to stdout -- while the postinst does call db_stop,
debconf does not restore stdout, so messages to stdout
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KERNEL-IMG.CONF(5) (24 March 2019) KERNEL-IMG.CONF(5)
disappear. This script is run after the scripts in
/etc/kernel/postrm.d directory. nokeep; l l. Pack-
age creator Status Debian linux source
package unsupported since v4.6.1-1; previously
supported Ubuntu linux source package unsupported
since v4.15.0-18.19; previously supported
kernel-package deprecated
preinst_hook
DEPRECATED: Set this variable to a script to be exe-
cuted before the package is unpacked, and can be used
to put in additional checks. The path can be a relative
path if the script lives in a safe path -- that is, if
it lives in /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, or /usr/sbin, or
must be an absolute path instead. In packages created
by kernel-package, the environment variable
KERNEL_PACKAGE_VERSION shall be set to the version of
the kernel-package that created the package. This
script shall be called with two arguments, the first
being the version of the kernel image, and the second
argument being the location of the kernel image itself.
This script is run after the scripts in
/etc/kernel/preinst.d directory. nokeep; l l.
Package creator Status Debian linux source
package unsupported since v4.6.1-1; previously
supported Ubuntu linux source package unsupported
since v4.15.0-18.19; previously supported
kernel-package deprecated
prerm_hook
DEPRECATED: Set this variable to a script to be exe-
cuted before the package files are removed (so any
added files may be removed) . The path can be a rela-
tive path if the script lives in a safe path -- that
is, if it lives in /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, or /usr/sbin,
or must be an absolute path instead. In packages cre-
ated by kernel-package, the environment variable
KERNEL_PACKAGE_VERSION shall be set to the version of
the kernel-package that created the package. This
script shall be called with two arguments, the first
being the version of the kernel image, and the second
argument being the location of the kernel image itself.
Errors in the script shall cause the prerm to fail.
Since debconf is in use before the script is called,
this script should issue no diagnostic messages to std-
out -- while the postinst does call db_stop, debconf
does not restore stdout, so messages to stdout disap-
pear. This script is run after the scripts in
/etc/kernel/prerm.d directory. nokeep; l l. Pack-
age creator Status Debian linux source
package unsupported since v4.6.1-1; previously
supported Ubuntu linux source package unsupported
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KERNEL-IMG.CONF(5) (24 March 2019) KERNEL-IMG.CONF(5)
since v4.15.0-18.19; previously supported
kernel-package deprecated
src_postinst_hook
DEPRECATED: Unlike the other hook variables, this is
meant for a script run during the post inst of a docs,
headers or a source package. Using this hook for the
headers package is now being deprecated, at some point
the headers post install script shall only run the
header_postinst_hook. The path can be a relative path
if the script lives in a safe path -- that is, if it
lives in /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, or /usr/sbin, or must
be an absolute path instead. The environment variable
KERNEL_PACKAGE_VERSION shall be set to the version of
the kernel-package that created the package. This
script shall be called with two arguments, the first
being the name of the package being installed (could be
kernel source or headers), and the second argument
being the version of the package being installed.
Errors in the script shall cause the postinst to fail.
This script is run after the scripts in
/etc/kernel/src_postinst.d directory. nokeep; l l.
Package creator Status Debian linux source
package unsupported Ubuntu linux source
package unsupported kernel-package deprecated
header_postinst_hook
DEPRECATED: Unlike the other hook variables, this is
meant for a script run during the post inst of a head-
ers package only. The path can be a relative path if
the script lives in a safe path -- that is, if it lives
in /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, or /usr/sbin, or must be an
absolute path instead. In packages created by
kernel-package, the environment variable
KERNEL_PACKAGE_VERSION shall be set to the version of
the kernel-package that created the package. This
script shall be called with two arguments, the first
being the name of the package being installed, and the
second argument being the version of the package being
installed. Errors in the script shall cause the pos-
tinst to fail. This script is run after the scripts in
/etc/kernel/header_postinst.d directory. nokeep;
l l. Package creator Status Debian linux source
package unsupported Ubuntu linux source
package unsupported since v4.15.0-18.19; previ-
ously supported kernel-package deprecated
clobber_modules
If set, the preinst shall silently try to move
/lib/modules/version out of the way if it is the same
version as the image being installed. Use at your own
risk. This variable is unset by default. nokeep;
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l l. Package creator Status Debian linux source
package ignored Ubuntu linux source package ignored
kernel-package supported
warn_reboot
This variable can be used to turn off the warning given
when installing a kernel image which is the same ver-
sion as the currently running version. If the modules
list is changed, the modules dependencies may have been
changed, and the modules for the new kernel may not run
correctly on the running kernel if the kernel ABI has
changed in the meanwhile. It is a good idea to reboot,
and this is a note to remind you. If you know what you
are doing, you can set this variable to no. This vari-
able is set by default. nokeep; l l. Package
creator Status Debian linux source
package ignored Ubuntu linux source package ignored
kernel-package supported
relink_build_link
This option manipulates the build link created by
recent kernels. If the link is a dangling link, and if
a the corresponding kernel headers appear to have been
installed on the system, a new symlink shall be created
to point to them. The default is to relink the build
link (YES). nokeep; l l. Package
creator Status Debian linux source
package ignored Ubuntu linux source package ignored
kernel-package supported
force_build_link
This option manipulates the build link created by
recent kernels. If the link is a dangling link, a new
symlink shall be created to point to kernel headers
data in /usr/src, whether they have been installed or
not. The default is unset, we don't create potentially
dangling symlinks by default. nokeep; l l. Package
creator Status Debian linux source
package ignored Ubuntu linux source package ignored
kernel-package supported
relink_src_link
This option manipulates the source link created by
recent kernels. If the link is a dangling link it is
deleted at install time. The default is to relink
(delete) the source link (YES). nokeep; l l. Pack-
age creator Status Debian linux source
package ignored Ubuntu linux source package ignored
kernel-package supported
silent_modules
This option has been put in for the people who are
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vastly irritated on being warned about preexisting mod-
ules directory /lib/modules/$version. That directory
may belong to an old or defunct kernel image package,
in which case problems may arise with leftover modules
in that directory tree, or the directory may legiti-
mately exist due to a independent modules package being
installed for this kernel version that has already been
unpacked. In this latter case the existence of the
directory is benign. If you set this variable, you
shall no longer be given a chance to abort if a preex-
isting modules directory /lib/modules/$version is
detected. This is unset by default. nokeep; l l.
Package creator Status Debian linux source
package ignored Ubuntu linux source package ignored
kernel-package supported
ignore_depmod_err
If set, does not prompt to continue after a depmod
problem in the postinst script. This facilitates auto-
mated installs, though it may mask a problem with the
kernel image. A diagnostic is still issued. This is
unset by default. nokeep; l l. Package
creator Status Debian linux source
package unsupported since v4.4.1-1~exp1; previ-
ously supported Ubuntu linux source
package unsupported since v4.15.0-18.19; previ-
ously ignored kernel-package supported
FILES
The file described here is /etc/kernel-img.conf.
kernel-common includes example scripts suitable for dropping
into /etc/kernel/*.d installed in /usr/share/doc/kernel-
common/examples.
SEE ALSO
linux-update-symlinks(8), make-kpkg(1), kernel-pkg.conf(5)
AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Manoj Srivastava
<srivasta@debian.org> and Ben Hutchings <benh@debian.org>
for the Debian GNU/Linux system.
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