proxmox-kernel-helper v. pve-kernel-helper

[EldonMcGuinness]

Was updating a server today and noticed there are two very similar entries, and the former seems to have replaced the later.

proxmox-kernel-helper/stable,now 7.4-1 all [installed]
  Function for various kernel maintenance tasks.


pve-kernel-helper/stable,now 7.3-8 all [residual-config]
  Function for various kernel maintenance tasks.

Was this package simply renamed for clarity or something similar?

 

[t.lamprecht]

Was this package simply renamed for clarity or something similar?

The rename happened mainly for the reason that this packages was originally in the same source repo as the pve-kernel-X.Y meta package, which is the one that depends on the actual, latest kernel package (pve-kernel-x.y.z-a).

This meant that it was also bumped on every kernel ABI change even if nothing in there changed, and that we had to coordinate uploads as we often got more than one kernel meta package at a time, like at transitions to a newer kernel major release or like now with the 5.15 default and the 6.2 opt-in kernels.

So, this was our main reason to split it out, but as splitting it out already required to touch a few things already in any way, we decided to also rename it to make it clearer that this package isn't only for Proxmox VE (pve), but rather all of our projects – we might do the same for kernel packages someday if there's the need for restructuring the packages anyway.

See also the following commits for verbose change details in the old and respective new repo, if you're interested:
https://git.proxmox.com/?p=pve-kern...ff;h=7fc1b2ac61e4efc902bbf5847e21a328020bf96f
https://git.proxmox.com/?p=proxmox-...ff;h=f6ca90855ca5853d6f60543ab0b441729e79430a

tl;dr: yes it was renamed for clarity, but only because there was a chance to batch that work when reworking that package's source anyway.

 

[EldonMcGuinness]

Just wanted to make sure apt had not mistakenly removed something and tried to substitute it with something else.

Cheers for the info!

 

[SRU]

t.lamprecht
How would i upgrade safely to the proxmox-kernel-helper as i am currently using pve-kernel-helper ?

apt remove pve-kernel-helper && apt install proxmox-kernel-helper

?

I do not like to loose the node...

 

[t.lamprecht]

t.lamprecht
How would i upgrade safely to the proxmox-kernel-helper as i am currently using pve-kernel-helper ?

apt remove pve-kernel-helper && apt install proxmox-kernel-helper

?

I do not like to loose the node...

A normal upgrade procedure should cope with that just fine, as the newer proxmox-kernel-helper has dependency information encoded that tells apt that it is a valid replacement for the older pve-kernel-helper, as you can check with e.g. apt show proxmox-kernel-helper (see Provides and Breaks+Replaces keys).

The normal upgrade procedure within the same major release would look like (if using the shell):

1. ensure you got valid repos
2. apt update
3. apt full-upgrade

Alternatively you can also use the update funcitonallity of the web UI, which has also a Repository panel that shows if the config is valid and your host get updates.

Anyhow, what are you actually trying to do and what's the error?

 

[SRU]

Thanks for the reply.I tried to fix the below:

# apt list --upgradable
Listing... Done
proxmox-ve/stable 7.4-1 all [upgradable from: 7.2-1]
pve-kernel-helper/stable 7.3-8 all [upgradable from: 7.2-13]

# apt-get --with-new-pkgs upgrade proxmox-ve pve-kernel-helper
...
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:
 
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
proxmox-kernel-helper : Breaks: pve-kernel-helper
E: Broken packages

In the end, apt install proxmox-ve fixed it - thanks for the help.