Temporary files.

STARHARVEST · 02-29-2008, 02:37 PM

What is the purpose of /var/log/removed_packages and /var/log/removed_scripts. Can I remove them?
And one more thing - what tmp directories can be cleaned safely?

TSquaredF · 02-29-2008, 03:33 PM

Quote:

What is the purpose of /var/log/removed_packages and /var/log/removed_scripts. Can I remove them?

I don't know, but if I wanted to experiment, I would move them into another directory & see what happens.

Quote:

And one more thing - what tmp directories can be cleaned safely?

I currently run "rm -rf /tmp/*" in my rc.local.shutdown file. I used to do the same for /var/tmp, but read somewhere that that was not a good idea, so removed it, but I never had any problems with it.
Regards,
Bill

Poetics · 02-29-2008, 04:25 PM

Here in the office we have a script that runs every evening to see what files in /tmp haven't been touched in the past month. If there are any such files, they are deleted.

Fairly easy to set up with cron and find, but a one-month rolling timeline has been my general ideology for some time.

chess · 02-29-2008, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poetics

Here in the office we have a script that runs every evening to see what files in /tmp haven't been touched in the past month. If there are any such files, they are deleted.

Fairly easy to set up with cron and find, but a one-month rolling timeline has been my general ideology for some time.

I have done something similar over the years.

evilDagmar · 03-01-2008, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSquaredF

I don't know, but if I wanted to experiment, I would move them into another directory & see what happens.
I currently run "rm -rf /tmp/*" in my rc.local.shutdown file. I used to do the same for /var/tmp, but read somewhere that that was not a good idea, so removed it, but I never had any problems with it.

Someone misinformed you then. Nothing in /tmp or /var is supposed to be required to be preserved between boots. You could clear them both each and every time and everything runtime should still work. I just wouldn't make a habit of wiping out /var entirely (/var/tmp would be fine) because Slackware keeps it's package accounting data in there. Losing it won't break any daemons or anything, but it would effectively break the packaging tool for upgrades or package removals.

STARHARVEST · 03-01-2008, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilDagmar

because Slackware keeps it's package accounting data in there. Losing it won't break any daemons or anything, but it would effectively break the packaging tool for upgrades or package removals.

this is what I'm afraid of..=)

evilDagmar · 03-01-2008, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STARHARVEST

this is what I'm afraid of..=)

Well again, /var/tmp is fine to empty--that's not where the package inventory information is stored.

STARHARVEST · 03-01-2008, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilDagmar

Well again, /var/tmp is fine to empty--that's not where the package inventory information is stored.

ops! I've got it now, thanks.

TSquaredF · 03-01-2008, 11:45 AM

Per evilDagmar:

Quote:

Someone misinformed you then. Nothing in /tmp or /var is supposed to be required to be preserved between boots. You could clear them both each and every time and everything runtime should still work.

Thanks for the information. As I said above, I read that in a thread somewhere, & I guess one can read almost anything in a thread somewhere, right?
Regards,
Bill

gnashley · 03-01-2008, 12:23 PM

/var/tmp is meant to hold info that should be preserved between boots. This doesn't mean that it should be required, though.
Most of /var is used for logs and lockfiles and shouldn't be completely wiped out -I mean you shouldn't remove the directories and the logfiles should exist, even if they are emptied(truncated) on shutdown.
/tmp can safely be cleaned out, except that there are a few invisible files there which it is convenient to preserve.

Woodsman · 03-01-2008, 02:30 PM

Quote:

And one more thing - what tmp directories can be cleaned safely?

Perhaps this will help:

Removing Temporary Files and Clutter

pbhj · 03-01-2008, 04:46 PM

I did this before and it screwed up KDE. Since then I ran a script (I no longer run Slackware since Jan 2008) to see if the file had been modified in X days and then delete. That caused no problems.

YMMV.