Debian – Fix ‘linux-image-amd64 Kept Back’ Issue in Debian Buster

aptdebianlinux

Perhaps a simple question, perhaps a stupid question, but I can't find an answer…

Whenever I do

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade

I get

The following packages have been kept back:
  linux-image-amd64

Sooooo, what exactly is happening here?

Best Answer

Sooooo, what exactly is happening here?

The apt-get upgrade does not add new packages. The linux-image-amd64 is a meta package that often depends on installing a new package that is the newest version of the kernel.

A new package is used whenever the ABI changes, this can be very important for anyone with any locally compiled modules, that aren't managed by DKMS or something.

Ref: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianKernelABIChanges

Occasionally, and often due to a security issue, a change is accepted into a kernel package that changes its ABI. The ABI change is represented by a change in the ABI version portion of the linux-image package name.

Anyway, if you want to upgrade to the latest kernel use apt-get dist-upgrade.

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