Ubuntu – The way to update to the next kernel

kernel

So, I have problems with nouveau preventing from sleep. I decided to go with the newer kernel than officially available. Should I install kernel from Mainline PPA (I do know it's not real PPA)? If I do, will my kernel be replaced when matching (or newer) kernel is officially released? What is the way to get that effect (being in sync with official repos)?

UPDATE I would like not to go with completely automated newer kernel installation, like with ppa:kernel-ppa/ppa (I mean I don't want installed packages to be updated automatically).

Best Answer

You're asking if you install an updated mainline kernel today, will this be replaced in future by official kernel if there is a release with kernel version greater than this mainline kernel?

The answer is NO. Because each kernel is packaged independently and kernel's version number is part of the package name. That is why you can run multiple kernels in the same system. So, when I install kernel-3.23, It won't be replaced when kernel-3.24 is available in update path. I have to manually install the later/updated one.

But Ubuntu partially handles this problem by using an empty linux-image-generic package. This package's description says

This package will always depend on the latest generic kernel image available.

So, when you update this package, this will bring newer 3-24 kernel in my system. But the older one will still be there. And those will accumulate until you removed them manually. That's why so many people have insufficient space problem in /boot.

This is true only for Ubuntu maintained generic kernel only. Mainline kernels don't even have this kind of upgrade mechanism. So, You're the person responsible for maintaining the versions.

Related Question