how to uninstall software on Linux

newtovanilla · 05-01-2008, 09:33 AM

If I install some software on a Linux system by building it with make and then make install, is there a command to give Linux to tell it to uninstall? I am asking if there is a "make uninstall"?

If I did the "make install" command and messed up, how can I undo it?

When I was trying to build a kernel, with the instructions to build it, the PC crashed. This was for a 2.6.2X kernel. I rebooted the machine, and then it did not run right. I could have done something wrong. How can I undo it?

Does Linux have a backup and restore capability? Can you set a restore point?

indienick · 05-01-2008, 10:03 AM

There is a "make uninstall" target - but only if the developers implement one in the Makefile (most do).

If it's a kernel though, usually you have to copy the kernel image to your /boot directory for it to be "installed". I don't think kernel's have a "make uninstall" target though - as they usually compile everything into the image, and keep kernel modules in a single directory (I'm not sure where). I mean, if you re-issue the "make" command in the kernel source directory, it should just pick up where it left off.

The basics for building a kernel are, simply:

Code:

# make clean
# make {menuconfig|xconfig|oldconfig}
# make bzImage
# make modules_install
# cp arch/your_arch/.../bzImage /boot/kernel-2.6.X

Then edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst or /etc/lilo.conf file.

[/code]

newtovanilla · 05-01-2008, 10:14 AM

Thank you for the comment.

The PC crashed before it finished the build, so I did not get to the install part. It crashed on the make.

I built a kernel that had the image already there in /boot, but it was not called bzImage. It was called vmlinuz-2.6.2X. I did not use make bzImage. I just used make. Does it make a difference? Is that why I had problems with getting it to boot? The files bzImage and the vmlinuz seemed to be the same files but a different name. Does the boot image need to be called "bzImage" and does it need to be placed in /boot? I think that the make install puts the image in /boot. Do I still need to copy it there? What do I do with the vmlinuz file?

If there is no uninstall in the Makefile, does that mean that you can not uninstall it and that it is stuck on your Linux?

indienick · 05-01-2008, 10:57 AM

I've never used "make install" when building a kernel. But if a custom-compiled kernel doesn't work, just delete it from the /boot directory.

I have always just done the process I outlined above, as I know exactly which kernels are mine, and which kernels are installed by my distribution.

Here's a decent guide on compiling a 2.6 kernel. Just try it with the most recent kernel source.

Which distribution are you using, anyways, and why are you trying to compile your own kernel? Assuming you're a newbie, you should always stick to the kernels provided by your distribution's package manager - custom kerneling should only really be done if you (A) know exactly what you're doing, (B) need to change something to fix a problem with your current kernel, or (C) are trying to create a base kernel for installation on another system if you're, say, creating your own distribution.

windtalker10 · 05-01-2008, 12:17 PM

Her's a link to a tutorial I wrote for compiling a generic package from source.

http://hack.mypclinuxos.com/index.php?topic=79.0

[With some input from others to make it more understandable.]

And yes, the command to remove the package is make uninstall.

If you're new and already futching with make a kernel, it may end up being less frustrating to get your feet a bit wetter by having a better understanding of the ins and outs of building from source.

It may be that your pc crashed because it was overloaded, which I don't think should have happened from compiling a kernel.

I've never had the need to custom build a kernel but I wouldn't think it would require a huge amount of resources to the point the pc crashed.

Only time that happened to me I was installing Gentoo to a pentium 3 laptop.

[I do so love to torture a machine

]

ubyt3m3 · 05-05-2008, 11:04 PM

I read windtalker10's tutorial and that was great help for newbies, like myself. During my research on "How to uninstall packages", I encountered another article that says something like;

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when you need to manually uninstall packages built from source, you need to look into ./configure file and find locations of where files were copied and then delete those files from each directory.
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Is this the right procedure if "make uninstall" is not available? Following what's in ./configure and deleting files based on it cleans out the system? I believe Linux doesn't have registory like Windows does, so I guess I don't need to worry about it, right? (As you can see, I'm coming from Windows environment (trashed it and migrated to Linux environment now

Thank you in advance.
gibb