In /boot/kernel.old/ what’s with the various .pkgtemp.*.ko.* files?

rcfa

Why do I have a bunch of these in /boot/kernel.old ?
Are they safe to delete, or what purpose do these serve?
There are no such files in /boot/kernel/

If I had found them just on one machine, I’d have thought they are installation remnants, and would have deleted them, but I found them on both of my machines, so unless a version had an installation/upgrade bug, that begs the question.

rcfa

@rcfa Incidentally, during the reinstall of a system and the upgrade, I saw these messages:


Installed packages to be UPGRADED:
	pfSense-kernel-pfSense: 2.4.5_1 -> 2.6.0 [pfSense-core]

Number of packages to be upgraded: 1

The process will require 112 MiB more space.
[1/1] Upgrading pfSense-kernel-pfSense from 2.4.5_1 to 2.6.0...
[1/1] Extracting pfSense-kernel-pfSense-2.6.0: .......... done
===> Keeping a copy of current kernel in /boot/kernel.old
cp: /boot/kernel/.pkgtemp.fuse.ko.4JpkotY0eBWB: No such file or directory
cp: /boot/kernel/.pkgtemp.if_ixlv.ko.VSjc1yx54GNf: No such file or directory
cp: /boot/kernel/.pkgtemp.if_tap.ko.ezbNErSgIyGe: No such file or directory
cp: /boot/kernel/.pkgtemp.if_tun.ko.AUBsjVYBTP63: No such file or directory
cp: /boot/kernel/.pkgtemp.if_igb.ko.2LnXpVQTU0El: No such file or directory
pkg-static: DEINSTALL script failed
>>> Removing unnecessary packages... done.
System is going to be upgraded.  Rebooting in 10 seconds.
>>> Unlocking package pkg... done.
Success

So, what am I to make of it?

Gertjan

@rcfa said in In /boot/kernel.old/ what’s with the various .pkgtemp.*.ko.* files?:

So, what am I to make of it?

I presume that 2.4.5 is way to old ;)
Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 10 is also .... "full of surprises".

The "2.6.0" installer wants to move the older 'ko' (hardare support libraries) out of the way, using the copy command, but they didn't exist.
Because, back then, during 2.4.5, these files didn't exist.

IMHO, the 5 lines that end with "No such file or directory" are harmless.

I can't be sure about "pkg-static: DEINSTALL script failed", but, during the reboot, after install/upgrade, all 'pfSEnse' packages should have been re installed anyway.

When it's done (could take some time) re assure yourself that the dashboard says it's on 2.6.0".
Check also that you can see the page with available packages listed.

Then, use the console again, and use option 5, reboot the system.

Look for any 'suspected' during the shut down and boot up process.

jimp

That's from a bug in the kernel deinstall script that caused that while back. It's fixed now, but until you upgrade to a version that has the fixed packages, you'll hit that. It's harmless, though.

rcfa

@jimp Thanks! Is it safe to delete these, or just let them linger until they are cleaned out with the next kernel update?