QA session removing the main Clear kernel

General Discussion
1

ClearMod user here.

I uninstalled the main kernel (the one installed with the OS) and the associated kernel-*-dkms and linux-*-dev bundles. Doing so wiped out the entire /usr/lib/modules folder. All gone, including my ClearMod kernel modules, dkms, and /usr/bin/initra-desktop.

  1. Swupd should not remove /usr/lib/modules if there are other kernels on the box. This includes /usr/bin/initra-desktop. Same for dkms, if installed.

  2. The hardware-uefi bundle lacks dkms and init-rdahead-extras.

I survived the what-if scenario.

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in general, swupd and our bundles “own” /usr with the exception of /usr/local…
and if you remove the last user of /usr/lib/modules, swupd will try to remove that.
(it should keep a backup though under a dot name)

we have images without any kernel stuff (including without initra-*)… basically the container images
so if you remove all kernel content, you’re really getting set up for a container setup.

I saw your request and will ponder how to do that in a way that works best and that creates the least mess :wink:

1 Like
4

Each kernel with NVIDIA modules consume greater than 460 MB. Making a backup will cause more disk consumption. On my machine, 1.9 GB. For that reason, my vote is not removing the critical /usr/lib/modules folder.

$ cd /usr/lib/modules
$ du -sh *xm*
466M    6.8.8-177.xmbore
467M    6.8.8-177.xmbore-rt
466M    6.8.8-177.xmecho
467M    6.8.8-177.xmecho-rt

Typically, there is no reason for one to have many kernels there. I’m a ClearMod developer and do QA i.e. jitter testing, latency testing, and combination compute/latency.

It took me a day to adjust not having a Clear kernel on the box. Note: Folks do not attempt to remove the swupd installed kernel. Not now… It will break your Clear installation.

QA’d safety measures in ClearMod.

  1. xm-uninstall all: Skips automatically, one cannot remove the running kernel.
  2. xm-install: Exits early, one cannot install over the running kernel.