🟠 High   ⏱ 5–30 min  Last verified: 19 May 2026
Affected versions: CentOS Stream 10

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents
  1. Symptom & Impact
  2. Environment & Reproduction
  3. Root Cause Analysis
  4. Quick Triage
  5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
  6. Solution – Primary Fix
  7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
  8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
  9. Rollback Plan
  10. Prevention & Hardening
  11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
  12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

Kernel install or dracut fails because /boot has insufficient space.

Environment & Reproduction

Common when many kernels accumulate or initramfs grows after firmware changes.

Root Cause Analysis

Old kernel packages and initramfs files exceed allocated /boot size.

Quick Triage

Check df -h /boot and rpm -q kernel to enumerate installed kernels.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

List initramfs sizes under /boot and identify the largest entries.

Illustrative mockup for centos-stream-10 — boot_full_diag
Diagnostic view for boot-partition-full — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Primary Fix

Remove old kernels with dnf remove and adjust installonly_limit.

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Illustrative mockup for centos-stream-10 — boot_full_fix
Remediation steps for boot-partition-full — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Move /boot to a larger partition or resize using rescue media.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

df -h /boot reports headroom and new kernels install without error.

Rollback Plan

Reinstall removed kernels if rollback is required.

Prevention & Hardening

Cap kernel retention and monitor /boot in observability stack.

Linked to dracut, grub2, and BLS configuration issues.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for centos-stream-10.

View all centos-stream-10 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

CentOS Stream kernel and storage best practices.

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