NAME

       linux-update-symlinks - maintain symlinks to default kernel and initramfs

SYNOPSIS

       linux-update-symlinks {install|upgrade|remove} VERSION IMAGE-PATH

DESCRIPTION

       linux-update-symlinks  is  intended  to  be called from the postinst and postrm maintainer
       scripts of Linux kernel packages.  The  postinst  script  must  pass  the  first  argument
       install  or  upgrade  depending  on  whether  a fresh installation or an upgrade has taken
       place.

       The VERSION argument must be the kernel version string as shown by uname -r  and  used  in
       filenames.

       The IMAGE-PATH argument must be the absolute filename of the kernel image.

       By  default, this command maintains symlinks in the root directory.  This behaviour can be
       modified by settings in /etc/kernel-img.conf:

       image_dest
              Specifies the directory in which to maintain symlinks
       link_in_boot
              If set to a true value, specifies that the directory is /boot
       no_symlinks
              If set to a false value, disables maintenance of symlinks

       The symlinks for  the  primary  default  kernel  version  are  named  vmlinuz  or  vmlinux
       (depending  on  whether  the  architecture  normally  uses  compressed  kernel images) and
       initrd.img (if it uses an initramfs).  The symlinks for the  secondary  default  have  the
       same names with the suffix .old.

       If  symlink  maintenance  is  disabled,  linux-update-symlinks does nothing, successfully.
       Otherwise it makes a list of kernel versions in decreasing order of priority:

       • The given VERSION, if the first argument is install

       • The current primary default version, if it exists and is not already listed

       • The current secondary default version, if it exists and is not already listed

       • All other versions whose files are installed, excluding the  specified  VERSION  if  the
         first argument is remove, in decreasing version order

       The top two entries on the list are the new primary and secondary default versions, and it
       updates the symlinks accordingly.  In case there is only  one  entry,  this  is  both  the
       primary  and  secondary  default  version.   If there are no entries, there are no default
       versions and it removes the default symlinks.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       INITRD When the first argument is install or upgrade, linux-update-symlinks  assumes  that
              the given VERSION will use an initramfs unless this variable is set to No.

FILES

       /boot/initrd.img-*
              Installed initramfs images
       /boot/vmlinuz-* | /boot/vmlinux-*
              Installed kernel images
       /etc/kernel-img.conf
              Configuration file specifying whether and where to create symlinks
       /initrd.img
              Symlink to the initramfs image for the primary default version
       /initrd.img.old
              Symlink to the initramfs image for the secondary default version
       /vmlinuz | /vmlinux
              Symlink to the kernel image for the primary default version
       /vmlinuz.old | /vmlinux.old
              Symlink to the kernel image for the secondary default version

AUTHOR

       linux-update-symlinks  and  this  manual page were written by Ben Hutchings as part of the
       Debian linux-base package.

SEE ALSO

       kernel-img.conf(5), linux-version(1).

                                           5 June 2016                   LINUX-UPDATE-SYMLINKS(1)