2G /boot partition
Summary
Raise the default boot partition size from 1 GiB to 2 GiB.
Owner
- Name: Chris Murphy, Neal Gompa
- Email: chrismurphy@fedoraproject.org, ngompa13@gmail.com
Current status
- Targeted release: Fedora Linux 43
- Last updated: 2025-10-06
- Announced
- Discussion thread
- FESCo issue: #3482
- Tracker bug: #2402027
- Release notes tracker: #263
Detailed Description
This Change raises the default /boot partition size to 2.0 GiB across all configurations. This includes Anaconda, kiwi-built images, and osbuild-made images that use a separate /boot volume.
Feedback
Pre-proposal devel@ mailing list discussion thread.
Benefit to Fedora
Firmware is getting bigger, initramfs are getting bigger, and boot volume size is not getting bigger. The last time it was changed from 500 MB to 1 GB was 2016.
The motive for the change is having a big enough boot on new clean Fedora 43 installations so they can be upgraded for 5 years.
We have no policy or guideline about how long a system should be upgradeable in place. But 5 years sounds nice, rather than telling folks a) become a partition ninja, or b) reinstall.
Scope
- Proposal owners:
- Anaconda: https://github.com/rhinstaller/anaconda/pull/6678
- kiwi-descriptions: https://pagure.io/fedora-kiwi-descriptions/pull-request/224
- osbuild: https://github.com/osbuild/images/pull/1918
- Other developers: Merge and release changes.
- Release engineering: #12996
- Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)
- Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)
- Alignment with the Fedora Strategy: N/A (not needed for this Change)
Upgrade/compatibility impact
Existing systems are not impacted by this Change, but the need for increasing the /boot partition does not change for existing systems. A reinstall may be desirable for this case.
How To Test
Once this change lands, testing this is as simple as going through a regular install of any Fedora deliverable.
User Experience
There should be no user experience impact.
Dependencies
- anaconda
- any osbuild package that uses osbuild/images as a dependency
Contingency Plan
- Contingency mechanism: Revert pull requests and make new release
- Contingency deadline: Final Freeze
- Blocks release? Yes
Documentation
N/A
Release Notes
Fedora Linux 43 has raised the size of the default /boot partition to 2 GiB. This is to accommodate increases in boot data over the past several releases and to maintain a usable experience. Users of older releases may be advised to consider reinstalling instead of upgrading to increase the /boot partition size.
