Remove Old Kernels In Ubuntu With One Command
A while back I wrote a post on how to remove old kernels from your Ubuntu system. While that process works just fine, it is a four step process. One person who read that post left a comment with a nice command line one-liner that removes all but the currently running kernel. And while that one-liner works quite well, I must admit that I don't understand all the regular expressions used in it, so I decided to try and come up with my own one-liner to remove the old kernels from my system.
I'm going to take you through this step by step so you can see how the individual commands in this one-liner tie together. If you're impatient, you can skip to the end to see the final command.
Step 1) List all packages that start with "linux-"
We'll use the dpkg command with the -l switch to list the packages, whether installed or not, that start with the string linux-.
Step 2) Filter that list to show only installed packages
To filter the list, I'm going to pipeline the output of the first command into the awk command. I'm also going to use awk to filter out everything but the package names.
Step 3) Filter out packages for the currently running kernel
OK, so now I'm down to a pretty limited number of packages, but I don't want to remove the packages for my currently running kernel. I'm going to use a few commands to do that. First off, I can determine my currently running kernel with the uname -r command. Currently on my system that command outputs: 2.6.32-25-generic.
To do my package filtering, I only want the numeric portion of that output. I'll pipeline the output of uname -r and use the cut command with a hyphen as the field delimiter. I'll cut fields 1 & 2.
Now I'm going to use this result as the filter for a grep command. In Linux, to use the result of one command as an argument in another command, you enclose the command in single back-quotes ( ` that's the key to the left of the 1 on a standard US keyboard). So here's my one-liner so far.
This is the output so far on my system:
linux-generic
linux-headers-2.6.32-24
linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic
linux-headers-generic
linux-image-2.6.32-24-generic
linux-image-generic
linux-libc-dev
linux-sound-base
Step 4) Filter the list for only the kernel packages
So now I have a package list that excludes the packages for my current kernel. The only packages from the list above that I want to remove are: linux-headers-2.6.32-24, linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic, linux-image-2.6.32-24-generic.
What makes these packages unique from the others in the list is that they all contain numbers. So I can use grep again to filter the list down to only packages with numbers in their names. I'll pipeline the output of the previous command into grep -e [0-9].
So now the output on my system is only the following:
linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic
linux-image-2.6.32-24-generic
Step 5) Putting it all together: Removing the packages
So now that I have a good list of packages I can use another pipe and the xargs command to invoke apt-get to remove the packages. First I'm going to show it using the --dry-run switch with apt-get. That way you can give it a try without actually changing your system.
If everything looks good after the dry run, you can go ahead and remove the old kernels with:
So there you have it. One command, albeit a long one, to remove the old kernels from your Ubuntu system. I imagine the same command should work on other Debian based systems as well, but I've only tested this on my 32 bit system. I'd be interested to know if it works just as well on a 64 bit system.
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Hey, it works. Had to run update-grub, then because I'm using BURG, had to run update-burg. There oughta be a button somewhere for this command, eh?
[...] Remove Old Kernels In Ubuntu With One Command [...]
"I'd be interested to know if it works just as well on a 64 bit system"
Testing on Ubuntu Lucid amd64 system, and it works.
Also someone posted this at Ubuntu forums a while back as a function script that works well:
rmkernel () { local cur_kernel=$(uname -r|sed 's/-*[a-z]//g'|sed 's/-386//g') local kernel_pkg="linux-(image|headers|ubuntu-modules|restricted-modules)" local meta_pkg="${kernel_pkg}-(generic|i386|server|common|rt|xen|ec2)" sudo aptitude purge $(dpkg -l | egrep $kernel_pkg | egrep -v "${cur_kernel}|${meta_pkg}" | awk '{print $2}') } rmkernel exit 0Thanks for the 64 bit verification and for the nice tip about the script.
Thanks for posting my rmkernel script (fun to see where it ends up!)
I made a new version, which can also be used for Debian, as the previous version did not work for that OS.
http://blog.opperschaap.net/2011/02/04/removing-old-kernels-in-debian-or-ubuntu/
It's always a good idea to keep the previous kernel installed, in case you need to roll back. So, I'd add another line for previous kernel:
local pre_kernel=$(echo ${cur_kernel} | tr '' \\\n | awk 'BEGIN{FS="-";OFS="-"} {print $1,$2-1}')
and then modify the 'aptitude' to add 'pre_kernel' to the exclude list:
sudo aptitude purge $(dpkg -l | egrep $kernel_pkg | egrep -v "${cur_kernel}|${pre_kerne}|${meta_pkg}" | awk '{print $2}')
Cheers!!
it works with 64-bit. thanks
Thanks it worked great.
To take it one step further, you can purge all the old configuration files with the following (after completing the Big One Liner (above):
dpkg -l 'linux-*' | awk '/^rc/{ print $2}' | sudo xargs apt-get -y purge
Thanks for this nice little ditty!
Does anyone know how (or whether it makes sense) to delay the execution of the postrm.d scripts until after all the pieces are removed? It gets a little tiresome watching all those initramfs and zz-update-grub calls...
Thanks for the tip. I didn't know those rc status config files were still hanging around. However, when I try your command I get this type of error:
When I modify your command to:
it works.
After doing some research, it looks like if I change my one-liner to purge instead of remove, then it should get rid of the config files as well and make this all moot, so I'm updating my post. I'll install an older kernel and re-run the command to see if it works.
OK, I verified that changing my one-liner to purge instead of remove resolves the config file issue.
Thanks for the handy script.
I had to add -y argument to apt-get to make it work. Ubuntu 10.10.
It's always a good idea to keep the last kernel installed. So, I'd modify the rmkernel script to add this line for the previous version of kernel:
[code]local pre_kernel=$(echo ${cur_kernel} | tr '' \\\n | awk 'BEGIN{FS="-";OFS="-"} {print $1,$2-1}')[/code]
and then add pre_kerne to the exclude list:
[code]sudo aptitude purge $(dpkg -l | egrep $kernel_pkg | egrep -v "${cur_kernel}|${pre_kernel}|${meta_pkg}" | awk '{print $2}'[/code]
For the one-liner:
[code]dpkg -l linux-* | awk '/^ii/{ print $2}' | grep -v -e `uname -r | cut -f1,2 -d"-"` -e `uname -r | gawk 'BEGIN{FS="-";OFS="-"} {print $1,$2-1}'` | grep -e [0-9][/code]
Cheers!!
Very nice, but this article seems to assume that you're already running the OS with the latest kernel, so as this article goes, it will delete all kernels except the one currently running, which may be an old one.
What would be a better command is if it deleted all kernels except the latest one (and perhaps also the one currently running).
Speaking of which, why doesn't ubuntu default to running the latest one? Despite installing kernel updates, mine's still defaulting to an old one...
That's a configuration option. You can adjust the booted kernel in /etc/default/grub
That's rather more than one command. LOL
Yes, I suppose that's true, but it is all on one line!
Thank you!!! It worked like a charm.
I modified it a little bit to keep both the running and the newest kernel.
Thanks for the script!
[code]
rmkernel () {
local cur_kernel=$(uname -r|sed 's/-*[a-z]//g'|sed 's/-386//g')
local kernel_pkg="linux-(image|headers|ubuntu-modules|restricted-modules)"
local meta_pkg="${kernel_pkg}-(generic|i386|server|common|rt|xen|ec2|amd64)"
local pre_kernel=$(echo ${cur_kernel} | tr '' \\\n | awk 'BEGIN{FS="-";OFS="-"} {print $1,$2-1}')
local latest_kernel=$(dpkg -l linux-* | awk '/^ii/{ print $2}' | grep -v -e `uname -r | cut -f1,2 -d"-"` | grep -e [0-9] | tail -1 | cut -f3,4 -d"-")
aptitude purge -y $(dpkg -l | egrep $kernel_pkg | egrep -v "${cur_kernel}|${meta_pkg}|${latest_kernel}" | awk '{print $2}')
}
rmkernel
exit 0
[/code]
Little correction:
#!/bin/bash
rmkernel () {
local cur_kernel=$(uname -r|sed 's/-*[a-z]//g'|sed 's/-386//g')
local kernel_pkg="linux-(image|headers|ubuntu-modules|restricted-modules)"
local meta_pkg="${kernel_pkg}-(generic|i386|virtual|server|common|rt|xen|ec2|amd64)"
local latest_kernel=$(dpkg -l linux-* | awk '/^ii/{ print $2}' | grep -e [0-9] | tail -1 | cut -f3,4 -d"-")
aptitude purge -y $(dpkg -l | egrep $kernel_pkg | egrep -v "${cur_kernel}|${meta_pkg}|${latest_kernel}" | awk '{print $2}')
}
rmkernel
exit 0
Worked perfectly for me.
After I finished, I ran /usr/sbin/update-grub just to be safe.
Matt Locke - Nashville, TN
i'v been updating for almost 2 years now.. this freed 2.7 GB of storage.. THANKS
Hi all ... thank you for the nice command ... I have just run it on my Ubuntu Lucid 64 bit and it worked perfectly ...
Thanks worked a treat!
Thanks, this made my life alot easier!
superboer12 - great command, worked fine on my 64 bit Lucid. How would I modify this script to keep the last two kernels? I had .39, .40 and .41. After running this I had only .41. Booted OK but I always worry.
Thanks!
I use this script to clear my kernels
#/bin/bash
ls /boot/ | grep vmlinuz | sed 's@vmlinuz-@linux-image-@g' | grep -v `uname -r` > /tmp/kernelList
for I in `cat /tmp/kernelList`
do
aptitude remove $I
done
rm -f /tmp/kernelList
update-grub
Why not just
$sudo apt-get autoremove
?
Does
remove old kernels for you? It doesn't on any of my systems.
There's a simpler way: Remove all but the bare necessary: You can add a plus (+) behind the packages you want to keep:
First get your kernel type:
ktype=$(uname -r | sed 's/.*-\(generic\|i386\|server\|common\|rt\|xen\|ec2\)/\1/')
If you already know your kernel typ, you may set it directly, e.g.:
ktype=generic
Then use the variable "ktype" to remove everything but the actual kernel image:
sudo apt-get remove --purge 'linux-(headers|image)-.*' linux-image-$(uname -r)+ linux-image-$ktype+ linux-$ktype+
If you need the headers, keep them too:
sudo apt-get remove --purge 'linux-(headers|image)-.*' linux-headers-$(uname -r)+ linux-headers-$(uname -r | sed s/-$ktype//)+ linux-headers-$ktype+ linux-image-$(uname -r)+ linux-image-$ktype+ linux-$ktype+
My current kernel = 3.2.0-29-generic
Using a dry run with your first command gives on my system
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-23 [3.2.0-23.36]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-24-generic [3.2.0-24.39]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-24 [3.2.0-24.39]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-25-generic [3.2.0-25.40]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-25 [3.2.0-25.40]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-26-generic [3.2.0-26.41]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-26 [3.2.0-26.41]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-27-generic [3.2.0-27.43]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-27 [3.2.0-27.43]
Remv nvidia-current [295.40-0ubuntu1.1]
Remv linux-headers-generic [3.2.0.29.31]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-29-generic [3.2.0-29.46]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-29 [3.2.0-29.46]
Remv linux-image-3.2.0-23-generic [3.2.0-23.36]
Remv linux-image-3.2.0-24-generic [3.2.0-24.39]
Remv linux-image-3.2.0-25-generic [3.2.0-25.40]
Remv linux-image-3.2.0-26-generic [3.2.0-26.41]
Remv linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic [3.2.0-27.43]
So I would lose my current kernel headers and for some reason, my nvidia driver. I don't want to lose my nvidia driver.
Whereas a dry run with my command gives on my system
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-23 [3.2.0-23.36]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-24-generic [3.2.0-24.39]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-24 [3.2.0-24.39]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-25-generic [3.2.0-25.40]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-25 [3.2.0-25.40]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-26-generic [3.2.0-26.41]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-26 [3.2.0-26.41]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-27-generic [3.2.0-27.43]
Remv linux-headers-3.2.0-27 [3.2.0-27.43]
Remv linux-image-3.2.0-23-generic [3.2.0-23.36]
Remv linux-image-3.2.0-24-generic [3.2.0-24.39]
Remv linux-image-3.2.0-25-generic [3.2.0-25.40]
Remv linux-image-3.2.0-26-generic [3.2.0-26.41]
Remv linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic [3.2.0-27.43]
Your final command gives the same result as mine.
Does the "+" notation tell apt-get to install the package rather than remove it? I'm not familiar with that option.
OK, I found it in the man page:
With bash (don't know/care about other shells), it's better to quote the * in the dpkg command, to avoid an unwanted glob, just in case a file linux-something exists:
dpkg -l linux-'*'Seems to work in the 64 bit PAE version as well! Thanks for the awesomeness!
Amazing, I was really sleepy and this was just what I was looking for. Good job mate.
Thanks very much. I needed this to remotely clear space from /boot on a remote PC using ssh. It worked a treat!
I just had to cleanup my netbook and added a blog with more background info and a simpler command on my page; I'll keep that up to date when I find a newer or better way:
http://marc.waeckerlin.org/computer/blog/remove_all_old_kernel_images_in_ubuntu
Works great, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 64 bits. Thanks!
Works great in Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS 32 bits as well. Thanks for adding a step wise tutorial, with details about each step. Great way to learn things. Kudos.
This worked great on all my Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit servers on AWS. Thanks.
Beware of what you're doing if using this.
This method is not fool-proof.
On my system it wants to remove linux-libc-dev:amd64 too, which is a bad idea.
Yes, it works on on 32-bits systems as the author already wrote, but I'm not so sure about 64-bits systems. There might be other packages that also meet the requirements and that are removed unexpectedly.
Hi Guys
I get this error when using this
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).
This may be because it failed to install correctly as the /boot is 100% full can you repost the solution showing where you would put just the one image to remove in order to clean space so i can run it again please
Many thanks
This post shows a more manual way of removing old kernels, if that's what you're looking for:
http://tuxtweaks.com/2009/12/remove-old-kernels-in-ubuntu/
Hi Linerd
That worked a treat thanks. My problem was an incomplete linux header update to 3.2.0-34 due to not enough space and everything i did failed because of this. With the old solution i was able to remove older versions one at a time and create the space to complete the update and remove all of the old ones with your in one command
Many thanks it was very much appreciated
Thanks for not only sharing the command, but the logic behind it.
Today, after 24 months of having old kernels pile up in /sda3 to the point that the OS failed, this post has removed the outdated kernels, and I have recovered 3 gig. Thank you very very much.
Did not work well on Ubuntu 12.10 (64bit) - it wanted to lot of extra things:
Feb 22, 11:27:02> dpkg -l linux-* | awk '/^ii/{ print $2}' | grep -v -e `uname -r | cut -f1,2 -d"-"` | grep -e [0-9] | xargs sudo apt-get --dry-run remove
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
lib32z1 libavahi-client-dev libavahi-common-dev libgnutls-openssl27 libgnutlsxx27 libgpg-error-dev libidn11-dev libieee1284-3-dev libjbig-dev libkadm5clnt-mit8 libkadm5srv-mit8 liblzma-dev libp11-kit-dev libsensors4-dev libsnmp-perl libtasn1-3-dev libtiffxx5
libusb++-0.1-4c2 libv4l-dev libwrap0-dev ncurses-term pax
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED:
build-essential comerr-dev g++ g++-4.4 g++-4.7 google-earth-stable krb5-multidev libc6-dev libcups2-dev libcupsimage2-dev libcurl4-nss-dev libexif-dev libexpat1-dev libgcrypt11-dev libgnutls-dev libgphoto2-2-dev libjpeg-dev libjpeg-turbo8-dev libjpeg8-dev
libkrb5-dev libmysqlclient-dev libncurses5-dev libpcre3-dev libperl-dev libpng12-dev librtmp-dev libsane-dev libsnmp-dev libsqlite3-dev libssl-dev libstdc++6-4.4-dev libstdc++6-4.7-dev libtiff5-dev libtool libusb++-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev libusb-dev linux-generic
linux-headers-3.5.0-23 linux-headers-3.5.0-23-generic linux-headers-3.5.0-25 linux-headers-3.5.0-25-generic linux-headers-generic linux-image-3.5.0-17-generic linux-image-3.5.0-18-generic linux-image-3.5.0-19-generic linux-image-3.5.0-21-generic
linux-image-3.5.0-22-generic linux-image-3.5.0-23-generic linux-image-3.5.0-25-generic linux-image-extra-3.5.0-17-generic linux-image-extra-3.5.0-18-generic linux-image-extra-3.5.0-19-generic linux-image-extra-3.5.0-21-generic linux-image-extra-3.5.0-22-generic
linux-image-extra-3.5.0-23-generic linux-image-extra-3.5.0-25-generic linux-image-generic linux-libc-dev lsb-core python-dev python2.7-dev ruby-dev ruby1.8-dev ruby1.9.1-dev zlib1g-dev
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 66 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Remv build-essential [11.5ubuntu3]
Remv libcurl4-nss-dev [7.27.0-1ubuntu1.1]
Remv libcupsimage2-dev [1.6.1-0ubuntu11.3]
Remv libcups2-dev [1.6.1-0ubuntu11.3]
Remv libkrb5-dev [1.10.1+dfsg-2]
Remv krb5-multidev [1.10.1+dfsg-2]
Remv comerr-dev [2.1-1.42.5-1ubuntu2]
Remv g++ [4:4.7.2-1ubuntu2]
Remv libusb++-dev [2:0.1.12-23]
Remv g++-4.4 [4.4.7-2ubuntu1] [libstdc++6-4.4-dev:amd64 ]
Remv libstdc++6-4.4-dev [4.4.7-2ubuntu1]
Remv g++-4.7 [4.7.2-2ubuntu1] [libstdc++6-4.7-dev:amd64 ]
Remv libstdc++6-4.7-dev [4.7.2-2ubuntu1]
Remv google-earth-stable [6.0.3.2197-r0]
Remv ruby-dev [4.9]
Remv ruby1.9.1-dev [1.9.3.194-1ubuntu1.3]
Remv ruby1.8-dev [1.8.7.358-4ubuntu0.1]
Remv lsb-core [4.0-0ubuntu26.1]
Remv libsane-dev [1.0.23-0ubuntu1]
Remv libtiff5-dev [4.0.2-1ubuntu2.1]
Remv libsnmp-dev [5.4.3~dfsg-2.5ubuntu1]
Remv libperl-dev [5.14.2-13ubuntu0.1]
Remv librtmp-dev [2.4+20111222.git4e06e21-1]
Remv libgnutls-dev [2.12.14-5ubuntu4.1]
Remv python-dev [2.7.3-0ubuntu7]
Remv python2.7-dev [2.7.3-5ubuntu4]
Remv libssl-dev [1.0.1c-3ubuntu2.1]
Remv libmysqlclient-dev [5.5.29-0ubuntu0.12.10.1]
Remv libpng12-dev [1.2.49-1ubuntu1]
Remv zlib1g-dev [1:1.2.7.dfsg-13]
Remv libgphoto2-2-dev [2.4.14-2]
Remv libusb-dev [2:0.1.12-23]
Remv libusb-1.0-0-dev [2:1.0.12-2]
Remv libtool [2.4.2-1ubuntu2]
Remv libsqlite3-dev [3.7.13-1]
Remv libpcre3-dev [1:8.30-5ubuntu1]
Remv libgcrypt11-dev [1.5.0-3ubuntu1]
Remv libexpat1-dev [2.1.0-1ubuntu1]
Remv libexif-dev [0.6.20-3]
Remv libncurses5-dev [5.9-10ubuntu1]
Remv libjpeg-dev [8c-2ubuntu7]
Remv libjpeg8-dev [8c-2ubuntu7]
Remv libjpeg-turbo8-dev [1.2.1-0ubuntu2]
Remv libc6-dev [2.15-0ubuntu20]
Remv linux-generic [3.5.0.25.31]
Remv linux-headers-3.5.0-23-generic [3.5.0-23.35]
Remv linux-headers-3.5.0-23 [3.5.0-23.35]
Remv linux-headers-generic [3.5.0.25.31]
Remv linux-headers-3.5.0-25-generic [3.5.0-25.38]
Remv linux-headers-3.5.0-25 [3.5.0-25.38]
Remv linux-image-extra-3.5.0-17-generic [3.5.0-17.28]
Remv linux-image-3.5.0-17-generic [3.5.0-17.28]
Remv linux-image-extra-3.5.0-18-generic [3.5.0-18.29]
Remv linux-image-3.5.0-18-generic [3.5.0-18.29]
Remv linux-image-extra-3.5.0-19-generic [3.5.0-19.30]
Remv linux-image-3.5.0-19-generic [3.5.0-19.30]
Remv linux-image-extra-3.5.0-21-generic [3.5.0-21.32]
Remv linux-image-3.5.0-21-generic [3.5.0-21.32]
Remv linux-image-extra-3.5.0-22-generic [3.5.0-22.34]
Remv linux-image-3.5.0-22-generic [3.5.0-22.34]
Remv linux-image-extra-3.5.0-23-generic [3.5.0-23.35]
Remv linux-image-3.5.0-23-generic [3.5.0-23.35]
Remv linux-image-generic [3.5.0.25.31]
Remv linux-image-extra-3.5.0-25-generic [3.5.0-25.38]
Remv linux-image-3.5.0-25-generic [3.5.0-25.38]
Remv linux-libc-dev [3.5.0-25.38]
What listing do you get if you just enter to portion prior to the xargs command?
I've also documented a more manual way if you want to try that: http://tuxtweaks.com/2009/12/remove-old-kernels-in-ubuntu/
I saw the same behavior and the problem is caused by the naming of the linux-libc-dev package. I fixed the problem by changing the command
dpkg -l linux-*todpkg -l linux-headers* -l linux-image*.The full command would be
dpkg -l linux-headers* -l linux-image* | awk '/^ii/{ print $2}' | grep -v -e `uname -r | cut -f1,2 -d"-"` | grep -e [0-9] | xargs sudo apt-get removeI have used your technique to remove old kernels and it has worked quite well in he past, and I thank you for that. However now, after upgrading from linux-headers-2.6.32-45 (2.6.32-45.103) to 2.6.32-45.104, when I type:
:~$ dpkg -l linux-*
I get this:
No packages found matching linux-3.7.1.
No packages found matching linux-3.8.0.
What gives?
That's really strange. I've never seen that. You could try the more manual route to see how that works out.
http://tuxtweaks.com/2009/12/remove-old-kernels-in-ubuntu/
I found the answer to my own question.
It has nothing to do with the upgrade. It has something to do with me taking the crash course on how to build and run a Linux kernel. I built two kernels (3.7.1 and 3.8.0) but never run them. They are sitting in folders with said names in my Home Folder.
I feel kinda dumb...
Thanks
Found this page when I needed to do some clean up on my system which was very helpful. I did make a change for filtering the package list that I would like to pass on:
dpkg -l | awk --assign=mykernel=$(uname -r) '$2 ~ mykernel{next}$2 ~ /^linux-image-[0-9]/ || $2 ~ /^linux-headers-[0-9]/{print $2}' | xargs sudo apt-get -y purge
[...] was able to fix it with a command written by Linerd. He did a very nice job explaining it, so I would recommend that you follow through and read his [...]
This worked fine on a 64 bit system. no issues.
Still works, 12.10 and linux mint (debian) on a 64 bit system.
Please could someone explain how to type the vertical line between phrases? I don't see it on my keyboard ANYWHERE, and it's obviously not the forward or back slashes.
don't worry abt replying . sorted.
Thanks for the excellent one liner. It works like a magic charm.
You're welcome. I'm glad you got it sorted out.
[...] to me. I actually did a LOT of Googling and asking around and eventually stumbled upon this blog: http://tuxtweaks.com/2010/10/remove-...h-one-command/ which seems to have achieved what I need! I now have 34% free in /boot. One thing I noticed was [...]
Hmm I think it willl work on a 64 system, im currently in the process of adjusting it a little though. The trick of picking out everything that contain numbers for processing doesnt work on 64 systems since we have filenames like *amd64 and so.