Removing temporary files
 

I am newbie with Linux and I want to know answer for the next question:

I noticed there are lots of files in /tmp directory. Many subdirectories there are locked. Can I remove them? And can I remove files in other tmp-directories?

I am using Suse 9.1 Pro. So someone know good program which could help me to get rid off temporary files?

Thanks
Uncle Joe

You can remove everything in /tmp when you reboot.
When the system is running, don't do it. You mentionned those "lock" file:

When certain programs start, they write a program.lock file (or sometimes folder) in /tmp. So that if you try to start a 2nd instance the same program, it will notice that there is a lock file in /tmp so will refuse to start. When you cleanly close the program the lock file is removed.
This can be useful to know if you kill a process and then cannot restart the program. It might be because you need to manually remove the lock file in /tmp.

If you still afraid about removing everthing in /tmp during a reboot, make a copy of /tmp somewhere. Once you'll see it's safe you can delete you backup.

Hope this help

I forgot to say:
no need for a good program to get rid of /tmp file. suse can do it for you. Edit the /etc/sysconfig/cron file. Read the comment (I think they are pretty self-explanatory) and modify the variable to fit your need

If you don't like Command Line Interface, I think you can do it through YaST (system + /etc/sysconfig editor) I ain't sure, I always use CLI.

Thanks, after a little seeking I found that. it really works.

OMN