Kernel packages are not completely removed during automatic cleanup

[Andrei Borzenkov]

Some packages are left in "residual-config" state. This is confusing.

Linux bor-Latitude-E5450 4.15.0-33-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Wed Aug 15 16:00:05 UTC 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

bor@bor-Latitude-E5450:~$ dpkg-query -W linux\*
linux-base 4.5ubuntu1
linux-doc-4.15.0
linux-firmware 1.173.1
linux-firmware-snapdragon
linux-generic 4.15.0.33.35
linux-generic-hwe-16.04 4.15.0.33.35
linux-headers
linux-headers-3.0
linux-headers-4.15.0-30-generic
linux-headers-4.15.0-32 4.15.0-32.35
linux-headers-4.15.0-32-generic 4.15.0-32.35
linux-headers-4.15.0-33 4.15.0-33.36
linux-headers-4.15.0-33-generic 4.15.0-33.36
linux-headers-686-pae
linux-headers-amd64
linux-headers-generic 4.15.0.33.35
linux-headers-generic-hwe-16.04 4.15.0.33.35
linux-hwe-tools-4.15.0-29 4.15.0-29.31~16.04.1
linux-image
linux-image-4.15.0-30-generic 4.15.0-30.32
linux-image-4.15.0-32-generic 4.15.0-32.35
linux-image-4.15.0-33-generic 4.15.0-33.36
linux-image-generic 4.15.0.33.35
linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04 4.15.0.33.35
linux-image-unsigned-4.15.0-30-generic
linux-image-unsigned-4.15.0-32-generic
linux-image-unsigned-4.15.0-33-generic
linux-initramfs-tool
linux-kernel-headers
linux-kernel-headers-arm64-cross
linux-kernel-headers-mips-cross
linux-kernel-headers-mips64-cross
linux-kernel-log-daemon
linux-libc-dev:amd64 4.15.0-33.36
linux-libc-dev:i386 4.15.0-33.36
linux-libc-dev-arm64-cross 4.15.0-18.19cross1
linux-libc-dev-arm64-dcv1
linux-libc-dev-mips-cross 4.15.0-18.19cross1
linux-libc-dev-mips-dcv1
linux-libc-dev-mips64-cross 4.15.0-18.19cross1
linux-libc-dev-mips64-dcv1
linux-modules-4.15.0-30-generic 4.15.0-30.32
linux-modules-4.15.0-32-generic 4.15.0-32.35
linux-modules-4.15.0-33-generic 4.15.0-33.36
linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-30-generic 4.15.0-30.32
linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-32-generic 4.15.0-32.35
linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-33-generic 4.15.0-33.36
linux-restricted-common
linux-signed-generic 4.15.0.33.35
linux-signed-generic-hwe-16.04 4.15.0.33.35
linux-signed-image-generic 4.15.0.33.35
linux-signed-image-generic-hwe-16.04 4.15.0.33.35
linux-sound-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu5
linux-source-4.15.0
linux-tools
linux-tools-4.15.0-32 4.15.0-32.35
linux-tools-4.15.0-32-generic 4.15.0-32.35
linux-tools-4.15.0-33 4.15.0-33.36
linux-tools-4.15.0-33-generic 4.15.0-33.36
linux-tools-common 4.15.0-33.36
linux-tools-generic 4.15.0.33.35
linux-tools-generic-hwe-16.04 4.15.0.33.35
bor@bor-Latitude-E5450:~$

or@bor-Latitude-E5450:~$ LC_ALL=C apt list linux-headers-4.15.0-30-generic linux-image-unsigned-4.15.0-30-generic linux-modules-4.15.0-30-generic linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-30-generic
Listing... Done
linux-headers-4.15.0-30-generic/bionic-updates,bionic-security 4.15.0-30.32 amd64
linux-image-unsigned-4.15.0-30-generic/bionic-updates,bionic-security 4.15.0-30.32 amd64
linux-modules-4.15.0-30-generic/bionic-updates,bionic-security,now 4.15.0-30.32 amd64 [residual-config]
linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-30-generic/bionic-updates,bionic-security,now 4.15.0-30.32 amd64 [residual-config]
bor@bor-Latitude-E5450:~$

bor@bor-Latitude-E5450:~$ LC_ALL=C sudo apt purge linux-image-4.15.0-30-generic linux-modules-4.15.0-30-generic linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-30-generic
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  extlinux g++-4.8 gcc-5-cross-base giblib1 libaec0 libatomic1-arm64-cross libbabeltrace-ctf1
  libbonobo2-common libboost-chrono1.58.0 libboost-system1.58.0 libc6-dev-arm64-cross
  libebml4v5 libffi-dev libgcc1-arm64-cross libgomp1-arm64-cross libisc-export160
  libjasper1:i386 libjson-c2:i386 libllvm5.0:i386 libmysofa libobjc-5-dev libobjc4
  liborbit-2-0 libpango-perl libtorrent-rasterbar8 libva-drm1 libva-wayland1 libx264-148
  linux-generic-hwe-16.04 linux-hwe-tools-4.15.0-29 linux-libc-dev-arm64-cross
  linux-libc-dev-mips64-cross python-ndg-httpsclient qml-module-qtgraphicaleffects
  qml-module-qtquick-dialogs qml-module-qtquick-privatewidgets qml-module-qtwebkit
  qml-module-ubuntu-performancemetrics
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  linux-image-4.15.0-30-generic* linux-modules-4.15.0-30-generic*
  linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-30-generic*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 3 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
(Reading database ... 301437 files and directories currently installed.)
Purging configuration files for linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-30-generic (4.15.0-30.32) ...
Purging configuration files for linux-modules-4.15.0-30-generic (4.15.0-30.32) ...
dpkg: warning: while removing linux-modules-4.15.0-30-generic, directory '/lib/modules/4.15.0-30-generic' not empty so not removed
Purging configuration files for linux-image-4.15.0-30-generic (4.15.0-30.32) ...
bor@bor-Latitude-E5450:~$
bor@bor-Latitude-E5450:~$ LC_ALL=C apt list linux-headers-4.15.0-30-generic linux-image-unsigned-4.15.0-30-generic linux-modules-4.15.0-30-generic linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-30-generic
Listing... Done
linux-headers-4.15.0-30-generic/bionic-updates,bionic-security 4.15.0-30.32 amd64
linux-image-unsigned-4.15.0-30-generic/bionic-updates,bionic-security 4.15.0-30.32 amd64
linux-modules-4.15.0-30-generic/bionic-updates,bionic-security 4.15.0-30.32 amd64
linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-30-generic/bionic-updates,bionic-security 4.15.0-30.32 amd64
bor@bor-Latitude-E5450:~$

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: apt 1.6.3ubuntu0.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-33.36-generic 4.15.18
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-33-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.2
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: Unity:Unity7:ubuntu
Date: Wed Aug 29 07:13:23 2018
DistributionChannelDescriptor:
 # This is a distribution channel descriptor
 # For more information see http://wiki.ubuntu.com/DistributionChannelDescriptor
 canonical-oem-somerville-trusty-amd64-20140620-0
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-07-02 (1153 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 "Trusty" - Build amd64 LIVE Binary 20140620-04:25
SourcePackage: apt
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to bionic on 2018-08-22 (6 days ago)