First Fedora installation and 3 Fedora versions in my GRUB / boot loader

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1

Hello,

I just installed Fedora and I ended up with 3 Fedora versions in my boot loader. Is this expected? What did I do wrong? How can I clean this up?

All details:
I have a SSD on which I installed Windows 10. Then, I created a new partition on which I chose to install Linux Mint. The dual boot was working very well, but I then decided I did not want to use Linux Mint but Fedora :slight_smile: so I logged back in Windows, deleted the partition on which I had Linux Mint and started the process to install Fedora.

To install Fedora, I followed the instructions found on the official website and used Fedora Media Writer and a USB key. When creating the USB key, it failed the first time. Afterwards I booted from my USB drive and launched the live version of Fedora, chose to follow the installation steps from there. Then, my GRUB / boot loader was broken. It would not show up upon computer start, I had to change my UEFI/BIOS settings to boot either from Windows or Fedora. Note that at that time I had a ‘ubuntu’ option as well which I guess comes from Linux Mint (I forgot whether I still have it).
I fixed it by running a command from Windows terminal and by logging back to Fedora and also running another command from the terminal (I forgot which…).

Now the GRUB / boot loader is back and offers me 3 Fedora versions. I suppose the third one is to repair but I don’t understand option 1 and option 2. Attaching a picture.

Thanks a lot for your help.

2

This has happened before, it’s actual a good thing!

https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/how-can-i-delete-a-kernel-from-boot/75855

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Ah I see! Fedora actually prompted me to update yesterday, so one must be the former version I installed, and the other the new one. On the other thread, one recommands to keep the former versions/kernels as backups. I don’t mind, now that I know it’s a good thing. However it’s not clear to me yet whether they will clean themselves up or if I will end up with an unlimited amount of versions/kernels as updates happen. Do you know?

Also, once I install all my things and do all my setup (on the newest version/kernel), will all of that be available on all the previous versions/kernels too?

This is my first time switching to Linux, I still have a lot to read and learn. Thanks for your help augenauf - you were so quick!

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On one thread, it says “There should be a limit, that is 3 versions by default.” but it’s from September 2019.

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The limit is set in the dnf configuration file in /etc/dnf/dnf.conf using the installonly_limit configuration. See man dnf.conf for more information on this.

All your user space applications should work with all kernels, but things like kernel modules are specific to each kernel version and so are built each time a new kernel is installed.

In general, you won’t need to use older kernels. they’re only there in case the newest kernel that was installed has some issues with your hardware. Very rare, but does happen.

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Thanks for the explanation and the details, this is helpful!

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