==============
eclean-kernel2
==============

eclean-kernel2 is a simple tool to remove old kernels and stale
auxiliary kernel files.

*** WARNING: this is an early development version, it may be buggy.
*** Always use the pretend mode first to avoid accidental removal
*** of the wrong kernel!


Common usage
------------
To remove old kernels, keeping ${N} newest:

    eclean-kernel -n ${N} -p

This runs eclean-kernel in pretend mode. It will print the list of files
it is planning to remove. If it looks correct, execute:

    eclean-kernel -n ${N}

In order to check if eclean-kernel is finding kernels correctly, use
the list mode:

    eclean-kernel -l

For more options, see:

    eclean-kernel --help


Layouts
-------
eclean-kernel2 facilitates layouts to support different installs.
Currently, the only supported layout is 'std'.

std
~~~
The typical kernel 'make install' layout. The kernel is installed
in /boot along with (optional) config, System.map and initramfs/initrd.
Kernel modules are installed in /lib/modules and build directory can be
found via a symlink in moduledir.

Kernels are recognized by file magic (i.e. file contents are scanned).
Other files are recognized using filenames. Files are grouped together
using 'apparent' and 'internal' versions.

The 'apparent' version is the string after the first hyphen
in the filename. It is used to group the kernel, System.map, config
and initramfs together.

The 'internal' version is read from the kernel file. It is used by
the kernel to find modules, and therefore it is used to match module
directory (and implicitly build directory).


Sort orders
-----------
Sort orders are used to determine which kernels are the oldest.
There are two sort orders implemented currently:

1. version (default) -- attempts to compare apparent versions. If no
   apparent version is available, compares internal versions.

2. mtime -- compares mtime of the oldest file in the group. The oldest
   file was chosen because e.g. if two kernels share the same module
   directory, the modules will have the timestamp of the newer kernel.


Reporting bugs
--------------
Please report bugs at https://github.com/mgorny/eclean-kernel2. Please
try to provide as many details as possible, including your system
layout and the output of 'eclean-kernel -l'.