Re: /boot partition size
On 07/04/2025 at 09:23, Jen K wrote: I've been reading the official Debian install document, and I can't find an answer when it comes to partitioning how big the /boot should actually be. FWIW the /boot size has been raised to 768-1024 MB in Debian installer guided partitioning. Same with the EFI partition in provision for systemd-boot/BLS. While there are recommendations for /var, /tmp, /root and /home They are outdated. C.5.1. has a recommendation for /boot but it is outdated too.
Re: /boot partition size
Lennart Sorensen (2025-04-07):
> Looking at my system, I am seeing initrd sizes of 130MB. Add in another
> 10MB for the kernel, and you can not fit two kermels in 250MB. Try 500MB
> if you want to be sure to be able to fit two or three kernels at a time
> for a while yet. Of course better yet is not having a separate /boot
> if you don't actually have a specific need for one.
Indeed, I wouldn't advise anything below 500M. It's worth keeping in
mind `apt-get auto{remove,purge}` will keep 2 linux-image-* by default,
so unless you get rid of the older one manually, that means you need to
fit 3 kernels (and associated initramfses) at least in a transitory
fashion (until the next auto{remove,purge} call happens).
Cheers,
--
Cyril Brulebois ([email protected])
Re: /boot partition size
On Mon, Apr 07, 2025 at 06:08:22PM +0700, Andika Triwidada wrote: > Not sure if this is the correct list to ask that question. > But anyway, you need space for at least three sets of unpacked kernel images > including generated initrd. For current x86 kernels, one set is roughly 75 > MB. > So 250 MB should be safe for /boot size. But you need to ensure only 2 > latest > kernels left, for instance, by executing 'sudo apt autoremove --purge' after > installing the latest kernel and reboot. That way, you will have needed > space for > next kernel installation if needed. Looking at my system, I am seeing initrd sizes of 130MB. Add in another 10MB for the kernel, and you can not fit two kermels in 250MB. Try 500MB if you want to be sure to be able to fit two or three kernels at a time for a while yet. Of course better yet is not having a separate /boot if you don't actually have a specific need for one. -- Len Sorensen
Re: /boot partition size
On Mon, Apr 7, 2025 at 2:42 PM Jen K wrote: > I've been reading the official Debian install document, and I can't find > an answer when it comes to partitioning how big the /boot should actually > be. While there are recommendations for /var, /tmp, /root and /home > Hi Jen, Not sure if this is the correct list to ask that question. But anyway, you need space for at least three sets of unpacked kernel images including generated initrd. For current x86 kernels, one set is roughly 75 MB. So 250 MB should be safe for /boot size. But you need to ensure only 2 latest kernels left, for instance, by executing 'sudo apt autoremove --purge' after installing the latest kernel and reboot. That way, you will have needed space for next kernel installation if needed. Regards, Andika
/boot partition size
I've been reading the official Debian install document, and I can't find an answer when it comes to partitioning how big the /boot should actually be. While there are recommendations for /var, /tmp, /root and /home
Processed (with 1 error): Re: Bug#968441: partman-auto: Default /boot partition size is too small
Processing control commands:
> unarchive 893886
Bug #893886 {Done: Holger Wansing } [src:partman-auto]
partman-auto: increase max size of /boot on amd64+i386?
Unarchived Bug 893886
> forcemerge 893886 -1
Bug #893886 {Done: Holger Wansing } [src:partman-auto]
partman-auto: increase max size of /boot on amd64+i386?
Unable to merge bugs because:
package of #968441 is 'partman-auto' not 'src:partman-auto'
Failed to forcibly merge 893886: Did not alter merged bugs.
--
893886: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=893886
968441: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=968441
Debian Bug Tracking System
Contact [email protected] with problems
Bug#968441: partman-auto: Default /boot partition size is too small
Control: unarchive 893886 Control: forcemerge 893886 -1 On Sat, 2020-08-15 at 12:56 +0200, Pablo R wrote: > Package: partman-auto > Severity: normal > > Dear Maintainer, > > I recently assisted a friend in her installation of Debian over the > phone. > Going through manual partitionning over the phone would be too > bothersome so I told her to use the automated partitionning option > that uses a whole disk with LVM and encryption. > > Everything went well except that a few weeks later my friend's > computer would not boot: apparently, a kernel update had gone wrong > because the /boot partition was full. > Of course my friend did not see the problem during the update because > she did not know she had to pay attention to that. > > I had the same problem myself a bit more than 10 years ago, and since > then I always do partitioning manually during installs so I did not > know until then that too small /boot partition was still a thing. > > The default should probably be like 1GB or even 2GB to be safe :). [...] This is fixed in the current version of partman-auto, though not (yet) in stable. Ben. -- Ben Hutchings Logic doesn't apply to the real world. - Marvin Minsky signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part
Bug#968441: partman-auto: Default /boot partition size is too small
Package: partman-auto Severity: normal Dear Maintainer, I recently assisted a friend in her installation of Debian over the phone. Going through manual partitionning over the phone would be too bothersome so I told her to use the automated partitionning option that uses a whole disk with LVM and encryption. Everything went well except that a few weeks later my friend's computer would not boot: apparently, a kernel update had gone wrong because the /boot partition was full. Of course my friend did not see the problem during the update because she did not know she had to pay attention to that. I had the same problem myself a bit more than 10 years ago, and since then I always do partitioning manually during installs so I did not know until then that too small /boot partition was still a thing. The default should probably be like 1GB or even 2GB to be safe :). Cheers, PS: I removed the system information that were automatically included by reportbug below as they correspond to my system and not the one I'm reporting about.
