linux-image-virtual installs PAE kernel instead

[Herco van Brug]

Binary package hint: linux-image-virtual

'apt-get install linux-kernel-virtual' produces the following output:

Unpacking linux-image-virtual (from .../linux-image-virtual_2.6.32.23.24_i386.deb) ...
Setting up linux-image-2.6.32-23-virtual (2.6.32-23.37) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic-pae
Running postinst hook script /usr/sbin/update-grub.
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic-pae
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic-pae
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-22-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Found Ubuntu 9.10 (9.10) on /dev/sda1
done
Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms 2.6.32-23-generic-pae /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic-pae
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/nvidia-common 2.6.32-23-generic-pae /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic-pae
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/pm-utils 2.6.32-23-generic-pae /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic-pae

Setting up linux-image-virtual (2.6.32.23.24) ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and /boot show this:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 640617 2010-06-04 03:56 abi-2.6.32-22-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 651618 2010-06-11 14:53 abi-2.6.32-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 115847 2010-06-04 03:56 config-2.6.32-22-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 115905 2010-06-11 14:53 config-2.6.32-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 116360 2010-06-11 15:17 config-2.6.32-23-generic-pae
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 2010-07-02 22:30 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7963148 2010-06-11 00:58 initrd.img-2.6.32-22-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7968349 2010-06-16 01:27 initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3918606 2010-07-02 22:29 initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic-pae
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 160280 2010-03-23 10:37 memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1687378 2010-06-04 03:56 System.map-2.6.32-22-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1688811 2010-06-11 14:53 System.map-2.6.32-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1729947 2010-06-11 15:17 System.map-2.6.32-23-generic-pae
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1196 2010-06-04 03:58 vmcoreinfo-2.6.32-22-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1196 2010-06-11 14:56 vmcoreinfo-2.6.32-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4030048 2010-06-04 03:56 vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4031552 2010-06-11 14:53 vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4164704 2010-06-11 15:17 vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic-pae

----------------------------------------------------------------------

so instead of a 1MB virtual kernel i'm left with a huge generic PAE kernel that i dont need in my VM.

[Herco van Brug (hercovanbrug)]

i did a quick test with 'vmbuilder' today and the produced virtual machine installs the PAE kernel too (as expected). so currently, all virtual machines build on ubuntu 10 have an unnecessary big kernel aboard!

this bug was reported a week ago. any possibility of a status update? i'm sure plenty users are affected though they may not know as the machine does still function after a reboot..

[Andy Whitcroft (apw)]

For maverick the -virtual kernel is generated directly in its own right so this cannot occur there, will close for development.

Looking at the lucid meta packages for the linux-image-virtual, we seem to be linking to the right linux binary image package:

  Package: linux-image-virtual
  Architecture: i386 amd64
  Section: metapackages
  Priority: optional
  Depends: ${misc:Depends}, linux-image-${kernel-abi-version}-virtual, linux-firmware
  Description: Linux kernel image for virtual machines
   This package will always depend on the latest kernel image available
   for virtual machines.

Looking at the Lucid linux-image-xxx-virtual package it does indeed contain the generic-pae binaries:

  $ dpkg -x linux-image-2.6.32-23-virtual_2.6.32-23.37_i386.deb LL
  $ ls LL/boot
  config-2.6.32-23-generic-pae vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic-pae System.map-2.6.32-23-generic-pae

This is also true in Karmic

  $ dpkg -x linux-image-2.6.31-22-virtual_2.6.31-22.60_i386.deb KK
  $ ls KK/boot
  config-2.6.31-22-generic-pae vmlinuz-2.6.31-22-generic-pae System.map-2.6.31-22-generic-pae

Back in Hardy we did include -virtual:

  $ dpkg -x linux-image-2.6.24-28-virtual_2.6.24-28.71_i386.deb HH
  $ ls HH/boot
  abi-2.6.24-28-virtual System.map-2.6.24-28-virtual config-2.6.24-28-virtual vmlinuz-2.6.24-28-virtual

This is intential and due to the way in which the virtual packages are generated. In Hardy they were a complete separate flavour with their own configuration. For release Intrepid thorugh Lucid the virtual flavour was generated from the server flavour (generic-pae for i386 in Karmic and later). For Maverick and later we are returning to generating these as their own flavour.