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--- packages:cleanup [2016/07/05 15:35] – peter
+++ packages:cleanup [2019/12/01 11:48] (current) – removed peter
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-====== Packages - Cleanup ======
-APT keeps a copy of each downloaded **.deb** file in the directory **/var/cache/apt/archives/**.  In case of frequent updates, this directory can quickly take a lot of disk space with several versions of each package; you should regularly sort through them.  Two commands can be used: **apt-get clean** entirely empties the directory; **apt-get autoclean** only removes packages which can no longer be downloaded (because they have disappeared from the Debian mirror) and are therefore clearly useless (the configuration parameter APT::Clean-Installed can prevent the removal of .deb files that are currently installed).
-To save up some space via **apt-get** you can use these commands:
-<code bash>
-apt-get autoremove
-apt-get clean
-</code>
-**autoremove** removes unused dependencies, packages which were installed by other packeges but which are no longer needed by your system.
-**clean** just removes all the packages in the apt cache.  You can also use **autoclean** but clean frees up more space.
-===== Purge unused packages =====
-<code bash>
-aptitude clean --purge-unused
-</code>
-**WARNING**:  THIS OPTION CAN CAUSE DATA LOSS. DO NOT USE IT UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
-===== Find Package Dependencies =====
-To show all the packages which are installed on your system because some package recommends it, but they are not actually dependencies of packages:
-<code bash>
-aptitude search '?and( ?automatic(?reverse-recommends(?installed)), ?not(?automatic(?reverse-depends(?installed))) )'
-</code>
-can give something like this:
-<code bash>
-i A apt-xapian-index    -   maintenance and search tools for a Xapian index of Debian packages
-i A exim4               -   metapackage to ease Exim MTA (v4) installation
-i A file                -   Determines file type using "magic" numbers
-i A heirloom-mailx      -   feature-rich BSD mail(1)
-</code>
-Check the output and if needed remove them all.
-**WARNING**: Ensure that package like libc6, sysv-rc, apt or coreutils are not removed.
-<code bash>
-aptitude search '?and( ?automatic(?reverse-recommends(?installed)), ?not(?automatic(?reverse-depends(?installed))) )' | awk '{ print $3 }' | xargs dpkg -P
-</code>
-Then we have the all time favorites to see sizes:
-<code bash>
-df -h
-du -h | grep ^[0-9.]*M | sort -rn
-du -h | grep ^[0-9.]*G | sort -rn
-</code>
-With these commands I keep my servers clean and lean, but if you do something wrong or remove a package like libc6, sysv-rc, apt ore coreutils you'll have to spend your free evening to fix it up :P.
-Note that everything as root. If you get strange errors about permissions then try again as root.