[Bug 1616262] Re: Unable to update initramfs with small boot partition

[Julian Andres Klode]

/boot needs to be sized to allow 3 kernels to be installed at the same
time, + one additional initramfs. The installer does not allow
installing on partitions that small.

The workaround is incomplete and dangerous because you'd have to remove
old initrd before putting in the new one and could end up without any
initrd.

** Changed in: initramfs-tools (Ubuntu)
       Status: Triaged => Won't Fix

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Title:
  Unable to update initramfs with small boot partition

Status in initramfs-tools package in Ubuntu:
  Won't Fix

Bug description:
  I have a small 100MB boot paritition and an initramfs that is 37MB.
  Once you add in all the usual clutter in /boot there is 25MB or so of
  free space left. I have a single kernel installed, there are no older
  versions floating about.

  When I run the update-initramfs script, it fails with :

  gzip: stdout: No space left on device
  E: mkinitramfs failure cpio 141 gzip 1
  update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-21-generic with 1.

  Looking at the default update-initramfs script, it appears to try and
  create the new initramfs image on the boot partition, then rename it
  to the current one in use. It fails at the cpio step as there is
  insufficient room for both initramfs images in the partition.

  I have tweaked the script to allow it to create the initramfs image in
  /tmp and then move it to the desired location (as opposed to creating
  it / renaming it in the same location), however while it works for me
  (tm) I'm unsure if this breaks any other behaviour.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
  Package: initramfs-tools 0.122ubuntu8.1 [modified: usr/sbin/update-initramfs]
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-21.37-generic 4.4.6
  Uname: Linux 4.4.0-21-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_uvm nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: MATE
  Date: Wed Aug 24 10:36:33 2016
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-08-23 (0 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Linux Mint 18 "Sarah" - Release amd64 20160628
  PackageArchitecture: all
  ProcEnviron:
   TERM=xterm
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
   LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: initramfs-tools
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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