Re: Enlarging /boot and swap partitions

[Felix Miata <mrmazda@earthlink.net>]

Jonathan Wiebe composed on 2025-08-15 02:51 (UTC):

> -   Before starting the upgrade, make sure your `/boot` partition is at least 768 MB in size, and has about 300 MB free. If your system does not have a separate `/boot` partition, there should be nothing to do.

I suggest you realistically evaluate your actual need based upon your existing
initrd sizes. I have about two dozen Trixie installations. They are all about the
same as follows (none using separate /boot/ partitions):

# du -sh /disks/deb12/boot/
255M    /disks/deb12/boot/
# ls -gGh /disks/deb12/boot/vmlinuz-6* /disks/deb12/boot/initrd.img-6*
-rw-r--r-- 1 9.2M Nov  5  2024 /disks/deb12/boot/initrd.img-6.1.0-26-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 9.2M Jan 21  2025 /disks/deb12/boot/initrd.img-6.1.0-30-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 9.2M Mar 21 18:20 /disks/deb12/boot/initrd.img-6.1.0-32-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 9.0M Apr 30 16:42 /disks/deb12/boot/initrd.img-6.1.0-34-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 9.0M Jul 22 23:30 /disks/deb12/boot/initrd.img-6.1.0-37-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 7.9M Sep 30  2024 /disks/deb12/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-26-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 7.9M Jan 12  2025 /disks/deb12/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-30-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 7.9M Mar  6 01:21 /disks/deb12/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-32-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 7.9M Apr 25 15:51 /disks/deb12/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-34-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 7.9M May 22 14:32 /disks/deb12/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-37-amd64
# inxi -Sz
System:
  Kernel: 6.12.41+deb13-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64  Desktop: TDE
  (Trinity) v: R14.1.5~[DEVELOPMENT] Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
# du -sh /boot/
301M    /boot/
# ls -gGh /boot/vmlinuz-6* /boot/initrd.img-6*
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M Mar 21 00:08 /boot/initrd.img-6.12.17-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M Apr 18 13:36 /boot/initrd.img-6.12.21-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M May 12 11:24 /boot/initrd.img-6.12.25-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M Jun 16 11:50 /boot/initrd.img-6.12.30-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M Jul 14 10:40 /boot/initrd.img-6.12.35+deb13-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M Aug 15 00:50 /boot/initrd.img-6.12.41+deb13-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1 9.6M Mar  1 11:57 /boot/vmlinuz-6.12.17-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M Mar 30 10:50 /boot/vmlinuz-6.12.21-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M Apr 25 11:07 /boot/vmlinuz-6.12.25-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M May 28 18:38 /boot/vmlinuz-6.12.30-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M Jul  3 15:01 /boot/vmlinuz-6.12.35+deb13-amd64
-rw-r--r-- 1  12M Aug 11 23:28 /boot/vmlinuz-6.12.41+deb13-amd64
#

Unless your initrds are truly gargantuan, I find it highly unlikely you have any
actual need for more /boot/ space than you already have with 488M. The
recommendation may be assuming both gargantuan initrds, and keeping a larger than
default number of kernels installed when beginning the upgrade. I suggest if you
remove excess kernels before upgrading, and/or your initrds are normally sized,
there is trivial chance you actually will need a bigger /boot/ filesystem during
Trixie's support lifetime.
-- 
Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion,
	based on faith, not based on science.

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata