On Mon, 8 Feb 2021 at 16:01, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Anything that can get more complicated will get more complicated.  Boot
> loaders seem to be an example.
>
> It used to be straightforward to read /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg.
> Now, building the list of kernels for the menu is farmed out to blscfg (a
> grub module).
>
> I needed to have a Fedora box default to booting a kernel that isn't the
> latest (because the latest cannot bring up the display on my computer).
>
> 1. I needed to make updates not delete the working kernel.  Normally
> updates keep only the last three kernels.  As of today, two are duds.
> Fix: change /etc/dnf/dnf.conf's installonly_limit from 3 to 0
>
> 2. Find the list of kernels known to grub:
>         sudo ls /boot/loader/entries/*.conf
>
> 3. set the default to one of those.  Use the filename, without the
> directory and without the .conf
>           sudo grub2-set-default 
> 2733f1c892a5422c98bdb188c4f62737-5.10.9-201.fc33.x86_64
>
> I don't know how long this sticks.

A couple comments:

- I think raw GRUB still works from a single .conf file that can be
edited by hand.  The problem you're seeing is that most distros have
built out a complex system to construct and replace that .conf file
whenever a new kernel arrives.  The assumption is of course that mere
mortals shouldn't be touching that config.  I learned a lot about
GRUB2 configuration at one time, but I don't mess with Fedora's GRUB
config system.
- Nicholas mentioned the in-place replacement of kernels: I think(?)
I've seen that behaviour on Debian with same-version kernels with
security updates, but I don't think I've ever seen it for any reason
on Fedora.
- if you have a separate /boot/ partition (very likely these days) and
you're never deleting kernels, you stand a good chance of over-filling
that partition and getting into trouble, particularly on Fedora which
likes to push a new kernel every couple weeks.  You'll want to keep an
eye on the space remaining in /boot/ and delete some of the newer
kernels you don't need by hand.

-- 
Giles
https://www.gilesorr.com/
[email protected]
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