How to uninstall, "Installed .tar programs?

SPo2 · 01-19-2006, 08:32 PM

HI

How do uninstalled .tar gz programs?
Where are they located aft installing, the folder that was created while unzipping or it does gets transfer to other directories too.?

Anyone? THanks
newbie

tuxrules · 01-19-2006, 08:38 PM

files ending in .tar.gz are generally source archive (kinda like zip) file. Most programs do not get installed simply by untarring and unzipping such files. You have to typically compile and install them. If you have not done compiling and installing then you can just remove the folder created after unzipping. It would be more worthwhile if you mention what distro you are using. If you are using rpm or debian based distro you already have a package manager which will make installing/removing packages a breeze.

Tux,

Poetics · 01-19-2006, 08:45 PM

If you've done the whole './configure' 'make' 'make install' dance, running './configure' (if your old one isn't there), 'make' and finally 'make uninstall' it will remove all traces of the old program. If you had custom ./configure variables, you need to make sure to put those in when you're compiling for the uninstall.

gilead · 01-19-2006, 09:34 PM

If `make uninstall` doesn't work, try looking for a file called Makefile. Look for the 'install' target and then delete all of the files that it adds.

pixellany · 01-19-2006, 09:43 PM

As at least one respondent pointed out, tar and gz are just compression and archiving formats. You can find a minimum of three things in a .tar archive:
A bunch of rpm files
A bunch of files + an install script
A bunch of files that allows you to compile the desired SW

How to undo the installation obviously depends on what you actually did....

b0nd · 01-19-2006, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilead

If `make uninstall` doesn't work, try looking for a file called Makefile. Look for the 'install' target and then delete all of the files that it adds.

Hello,
i do agree with you that "make uninstall" doesn't always work if the program has been installed from source after compiling it and doing all the steps like "./configure", "make", "make install" etc.
But i do not get the idea of the Makefile.
i searched for Makefile.......but there are large number of makfiles in the system.
So is there any master Makefile or should we concerned with the Makefile of the relevent program only ???
Do all installed programs have the Makefile ???

regards

gilead · 01-19-2006, 11:13 PM

Sorry - I meant the Makefile for the application. For example, when I built and installed Apache 2.0.55, I extracted the sources to /usr/local/src/httpd-2.0.55. I have a file called Makefile in /usr/local/src/httpd-2.0.55 with several make targets. Here is part of that file showing the target for installing the man pages:

Code:

install-man:
	@echo Installing man pages and online manual
	@test -d $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)      || $(MKINSTALLDIRS) $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)
	@test -d $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)/man1 || $(MKINSTALLDIRS) $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)/man1
	@test -d $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)/man8 || $(MKINSTALLDIRS) $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)/man8
	@test -d $(DESTDIR)$(manualdir)   || $(MKINSTALLDIRS) $(DESTDIR)$(manualdir)
	@cp -p $(top_srcdir)/docs/man/*.1 $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)/man1
	@cp -p $(top_srcdir)/docs/man/*.8 $(DESTDIR)$(mandir)/man8
	@(cd $(top_srcdir)/docs/manual && cp -rp * $(DESTDIR)$(manualdir))
	@(cd $(DESTDIR)$(manualdir) && find . -name ".svn" -type d -print | xargs rm -rf 2>/dev/null ) || true

The fun part is looking through files and finding out what the variables translate to on the file system. Apache is pretty simple in that if you specify --with-layout=Apache in ./configure it ends up in /usr/local/apache2. Expect to spend a fair bit of time with some apps

I think all compiled apps will have a Makefile or a makefile, but they don't always have an uninstall target or even an install target (for example imap-2004e). The trick is to document what you do so that when you go back to work on it you don't have to guess or rely on memory.

b0nd · 01-20-2006, 04:37 AM

Hello,

checkinstall seems to be a better option for some particular distros.
README file for checkinstall::

Quote:

# checkinstall 1.5.3 # #
# ######################## #
# #
# Installs a compiled program from the program's source directory using #
# "make install" or any other command supplied on checkinstall's command #
# line. checkinstall will create a Slackware, RPM or Debian compatible #
# package and install it using your distribution's standard package #
# administration utilities. #
# #
#

regards

SPo2 · 01-20-2006, 07:58 AM

Well,

thanks guys........