How to recover from purging linux-generic*?

Question

Using Kubuntu 20.04.3 LTS (5.4.0-91-generic), my / was getting full and, wrongly following the instructions in https://askubuntu.com/a/1325691/91300 I did:

$ sudo apt-mark auto $(apt-mark showmanual | grep linux-)
$ sudo apt autoremove --purge

which removed:

  linux-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-45* linux-headers-5.4.0-45-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-47* linux-headers-5.4.0-47-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-48* linux-headers-5.4.0-48-generic*
  linux-headers-5.4.0-53* linux-headers-5.4.0-53-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-54* linux-headers-5.4.0-54-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-56* linux-headers-5.4.0-56-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-58*
  linux-headers-5.4.0-58-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-59* linux-headers-5.4.0-59-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-65* linux-headers-5.4.0-65-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-66*
  linux-headers-5.4.0-66-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-67* linux-headers-5.4.0-67-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-70* linux-headers-5.4.0-70-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-73*
  linux-headers-5.4.0-73-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-74* linux-headers-5.4.0-74-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-77* linux-headers-5.4.0-77-generic* linux-headers-5.4.0-81*
  linux-headers-5.4.0-81-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-45-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-47-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-48-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-53-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-54-generic*
  linux-image-5.4.0-56-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-58-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-59-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-65-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-66-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-67-generic*
  linux-image-5.4.0-70-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-73-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-74-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-77-generic* linux-image-5.4.0-81-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-45-generic*
  linux-modules-5.4.0-47-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-48-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-53-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-54-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-56-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-58-generic*
  linux-modules-5.4.0-59-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-65-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-66-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-67-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-70-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-73-generic*
  linux-modules-5.4.0-74-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-77-generic* linux-modules-5.4.0-81-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-45-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-47-generic*
  linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-48-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-53-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-54-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-56-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-58-generic*
  linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-59-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-65-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-66-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-67-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-70-generic*
  linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-73-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-74-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-77-generic* linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-81-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-45*
  linux-tools-5.4.0-45-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-47* linux-tools-5.4.0-47-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-48* linux-tools-5.4.0-48-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-53* linux-tools-5.4.0-53-generic*
  linux-tools-5.4.0-54* linux-tools-5.4.0-54-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-56* linux-tools-5.4.0-56-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-58* linux-tools-5.4.0-58-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-59*
  linux-tools-5.4.0-59-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-65* linux-tools-5.4.0-65-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-66* linux-tools-5.4.0-66-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-67* linux-tools-5.4.0-67-generic*
  linux-tools-5.4.0-70* linux-tools-5.4.0-70-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-73* linux-tools-5.4.0-73-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-74* linux-tools-5.4.0-74-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-77*
  linux-tools-5.4.0-77-generic* linux-tools-5.4.0-81* linux-tools-5.4.0-81-generic*

All of which seems fine¹ (latest two kernels are not included) except for the first entry, that escaped me: linux-generic*.

My system is still running right now, but I'm afraid it's now broken and won't boot next time. Am I mistaken and, if not, how to best recover?

^{1 Well, now I've noticed something else that's worrying: nvidia 390.144 (5.4.0-81-generic) [...] Status: Before uninstall, this module version was ACTIVE on this kernel.}

@guiverc Sorry for forgetting - it's Kubuntu 20.04.3 LTS (added to the question). As for nvidia, I don't recall for sure (been using this machine and upgrading to new releases for a long time), but probably installed them manually at some point. — snoozy, Dec 22 '21 at 01:44
Try sudo apt install linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic. If your system is not haywired in some other unexpected way, that should reinstall one kernel (for booting), the corresponding headers (for dkms), and restore automatic upgrades when new kernels become available. If the command fails, paste the complete output in your question above. — user535733, Dec 22 '21 at 02:00
@user535733 Those packages are already installed (checked now). Do you mean sudo apt install linux-generic? — snoozy, Dec 22 '21 at 02:18
Now I see that linux-generic is listed as Priority: optional. Are my fears unfounded after all? — snoozy, Dec 22 '21 at 02:21
If those two packages are already installed, then run ls -l /boot. You should have a kernel, and initrd.img matching the kernel, and a few other matching files. If so, then have a LiveUSB on hand as a recovery media, and do your test reboot. Reinstalling linux-generic is optional -- were it my system, I would. — user535733, Dec 22 '21 at 02:30

snoozy · Answer 1 · 2022-02-04T11:02:03.457

So, following the suggestion by user535733 -- after confirming that linux-image-generic and linux-headers-generic were still installed and that all files in /boot seemed in place -- I simply reinstalled linux-generic and rebooted the system.

It's been a few weeks now and so far all seems to be just as before the purge/reinstall.

As the package is listed as Priority: optional, it might very well be that my fears were unfounded - all the better - though I can't tell what the consequences would be if I had rebooted the system without reinstalling linux-generic before.

How to recover from purging linux-generic*?

1 Answers1