Uninstall files installed from a source code tar-ball
Installing software from a source code is common practice in UNIX and Linux world. Some time this is preferred method because it gives all power and flexibility you need to optimize your software such as MySQL, PHP, and Apache etc. However, uninstalling files installed from a source code tar ball is a big headache.
Two methods can be used to uninstall files:
Method # 1: make command
Use command make uninstall or equivalent supported command, Read INSTALL or README file in source code file to find out more about this method.
# make uninstall
Sure, this method sounds very easy but not supported by all tar balls.
Method # 2: find command
(a) Make a list of all files on the system before installing software i.e. a pre-installation list of all files on your system.
find /* > packgetlist.b4
(b) Now install the software (use configure & make to compile it)
make make install
(c) Now make a list of all files on the system after installing software i.e. postinstall list
find /* > packagelist.after
(d) Next, compare both lists using the diff utility to find out what files are placing where. This list can be use to uninstall all files installed using source tar ball.
diff packagelist.b4 packagelist.after > package.uninstall.list
(e) After some time if you wish to uninstall files then you need to get list of files from package.uninstall.list file. Use following small for loop at shell prompt to remove all files:
for i in $(grep ">" package.uninstall.list | awk '{ print $2 }')
do
/bin/rm -fi $i
done
A note about binary packages
If you are using Debian / Ubuntu Linux, use following command to uninstall binary packages:
sudo apt-get remove {package-name}
If you are using Redhat / RHEL / Fedora / CentOS / Suse Linux, use following command to uninstall binary packages:
rpm -e {package-name}
OR
yum remove {package-name}
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Tags: apt-get command, awk command, find command, for loop, grep command, installing software, make command, rm command, rpm command, source code tar, tar ball, uninstall files, uninstall software, yum command
Very, very risky if some other files were created during the install process that have nothing to do with the package in question.
Just review that diff output…
Well it is not *risky* at all. You can simply replace above command find command with following one
Code:
find /* > packgetlist.b4
Replace with
find /* | grep -v -e ^/proc/ -e ^/tmp/ -e ^/dev/ -e ^/home/ > packgetlist.b4
Code:
find /* > packagelist.after
find /* | grep -v -e ^/proc/ -e ^/tmp/ -e ^/dev/ -e ^/home/ > packagelist.after
Above command will not include directories /proc, /tmp /dev /home. User can create files in /home or /tmp only so no one else could create file in /usr or somewhere else. So it is totally safe to use this method. We use this method everyday. Before running for loop you better check out file package.uninstall.list and then remove files.
Take a look on checkinstall. Can produce also .deb and .rpm from sources. In your case just: checkinstall make install will be maybe enough. For debian see also: Installing packages from source code with checkinstall
Stoyan,
Ok you can create Slackware, Red Hat, or Debian packages from source code with checkinstall. However, CheckInstall does not yet allow creating a package without automatically installing it, though this may change in future releases… Anyway, I will post it about it some time later about your suggestion. Thanks for link
I personaly using CRUX, which have extreamly good package management tools. See: pkgutils - can create pkg from sources, install, uninstall etc. And it is very easy to be used on non-CRUX distros too. See also prt-get, which is a pkgutils extension for working with ports-like collection.
My workplace requires me to work on Debian, RHEL, or Suse only. I may try CRUX at home. To be frank I like FreeBSD ports system it is easy to use!