Checking latest version in remote repository?

littlebigman · 01-20-2015, 05:08 AM

Hello

I'm running Debian on an ARM appliance and would like to check which is the latest version available in the repository.

I read that I should run "apt-cache policy <package name>" but I don't understand what to type to check the Linux kernel package.

Here's what "dpkg -l | grep linux" returns:

Code:

ii  libselinux1:armel                     2.1.9-5                       armel        SELinux runtime shared libraries
ii  linux-base                            3.5                           all          Linux image base package
iF  linux-image-3.2.0-4-kirkwood          3.2.65-1+deb7u1               armel        Linux 3.2 for Marvell Kirkwood
ii  linux-image-kirkwood                  3.2+46                        armel        Linux for Marvell Kirkwood (meta-package)
ii  linux-libc-dev:armel                  3.2.65-1+deb7u1               armel        Linux support headers for userspace development
ii  util-linux                            2.20.1-5.3                    armel        Miscellaneous system utilities
ii  util-linux-locales                    2.20.1-5.3                    all          Locales files for util-linux

More infos about that host:

Code:

# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Debian
Description:    Debian GNU/Linux 7.8 (wheezy)
Release:        7.8
Codename:       wheezy

# uname -a
Linux sheevaplug 3.2.0-4-kirkwood #1 Debian 3.2.51-1 armv5tel GNU/Linux

Thank you.

AlucardZero · 01-20-2015, 10:15 AM

linux-image-kirkwood is the metapackage that will pull in the latest linux-image-*-kirkwood kernel package available for Debian 7

Hungry ghost · 01-20-2015, 10:16 AM

Hi,

On Debian the kernel packages begin with "linux-image-", so from your dpkg output it's linux-image-3.2.0-4-kirkwood. If you want to know the details about this package and its version, you can run the apt-cache command you posted.

BTW, I think the capital 'F' in your dpkg output means that the package is not completely configured, so you might need to run dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-3.2.0-4-kirkwood.

littlebigman · 01-21-2015, 06:27 AM

Thanks for the infos.

Here are the outputs:

Code:

# dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-3.2.0-4-kirkwood
/usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure: linux-image-3.2.0-4-kirkwood is broken or not fully installed

# apt-cache linux-image-kirkwood
E: Invalid operation linux-image-kirkwood

# apt-cache policy linux-image-kirkwood
linux-image-kirkwood:
  Installed: 3.2+46
  Candidate: 3.2+46
  Version table:
 *** 3.2+46 0
        500 http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main armel Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

What should I do to install the latest kernel?

Here's what's in /boot:

Code:

-rw-r--r--  1 root root  107566 Jan 13 01:12 config-3.2.0-4-kirkwood
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      27 Nov 18  2013 initrd.img -> initrd.img-3.2.0-4-kirkwood
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 7260863 Dec 17 14:34 initrd.img-3.2.0-4-kirkwood
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root   12288 Nov 18  2013 lost+found/
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1213391 Jan 13 01:12 System.map-3.2.0-4-kirkwood
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1613336 Dec 17 14:35 uImage
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1613392 Nov 18 13:42 uImage.bak
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 7260927 Dec 17 14:35 uInitrd
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 7260944 Nov 18 13:42 uInitrd.bak
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      24 Nov 18  2013 vmlinuz -> vmlinuz-3.2.0-4-kirkwood
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1615096 Jan 13 01:11 vmlinuz-3.2.0-4-kirkwood

After install, it looks like I'm supposed to reboot the unit: Will the bootloader display an updated list of available kernels and let me choose?

The latest Linux kernel is 3.18: Am I correct in understanding that either Debian is more conservative and doesn't provide packages for the latest kernel, or the Kirkwood kernel speficically is only compiled every few months?

Thank you.

AlucardZero · 01-21-2015, 12:56 PM

That is the latest kernel available for Debian 7.
Debian is meant to be conservative and stable. If you want a newer kernel, you can:
* Enable the backports repository (linux-image-kirkwood is up to 3.16 in wheezy-backports),
* Use a different distribution (like Arch), or
* Compile it yourself.

Hungry ghost · 01-21-2015, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlebigman

Code:

# dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-3.2.0-4-kirkwood
/usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure: linux-image-3.2.0-4-kirkwood is broken or not fully installed

Hmm, I wonder why dpkg-reconfigure can't finish reconfiguring the package. You can run these commands to see if you can get it installed properly:

Code:

apt-get update
apt-get clean
apt-get autoremove
dpkg --configure -a

Tell us how it goes.