How to completely remove an application as well as the configuration files?

[Ashley Benton]

On Sun, Sep 7, 2008 at 7:30 PM, Jason Wilson <jwilson at noosaj.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Sun, 7 Sep 2008, Ashley Benton wrote:
>
> > On Sun, Sep 7, 2008 at 6:12 PM, Jason Wilson <jwilson at noosaj.com> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sun, 7 Sep 2008, Ashley Benton wrote:
> >>
> >>> On Sun, Sep 7, 2008 at 5:44 PM, Leonard Chatagnier
> >>> <lenc5570 at sbcglobal.net>wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --- Ashley Benton <chuaukantli at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Hi,
> >>>>> I am trying to install apache2, php5, and my sql and
> >>>>> I messed up somewhere.
> >>>>> Apache was working but stopped when I tried to use
> >>>>> ssl. After hours of
> >>>>> trying to find where I messed up I wanted to remove
> >>>>> apache2 and reinstall
> >>>>> it. My problem is sudo apt-get remove apache2 then
> >>>>> sudo apt-get install
> >>>>> apache2 reinstall apache 2 like it was and doesn't
> >>>>> delete my configuration
> >>>>> files. I tried sudo apt-get purge apache 2 but
> >>>>> apache 2 is still here the
> >>>>> way I configured it. What could I do to completely
> >>>>> uninstall apache2 and
> >>>>> reinstall it with its original configuration files?
> >>>>> By doing ls -l I found some file like that :"books~"
> >>>>> I am guessing that some
> >>>>> files that were saved after a crash but I don't know
> >>>>> how to open them. They
> >>>>> should be in my home directory but are not (or at
> >>>>> least I can't see them)
> >>>>> How can I open them and delete them? I tried
> >>>>> lost+found but it wasn't there
> >>>>> neither.
> >>>>> Your help would be appreciated
> >>>>> Thank you
> >>>>> Meg
> >>>> sudo aptitude purge <pkgname> should do it. I don't
> >>>> know for sure about apt-get but I think it's something
> >>>> like sudo apt-get remove --purge <pkgname>.  Either
> >>>> should remove the conf files but if not for some
> >>>> unknown reason you could do locate apache and remove
> >>>> any related files manually using the rm command or
> >>>> better still use the mv command so you could retrieve
> >>>> them if needed.
> >>>> HTH,
> >>>>
> >>>> Leonard Chatagnier
> >>>> lenc5570 at sbcglobal.net
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Thank you for your answer. I tried apt-get remove --purge and it told
> me
> >>> 'Package apache2 is not installed', so not removed' Now I am completely
> >> lost
> >>> because ls -l /etc/apache2 list me:
> >>> -apache2.conf, -conf.d, -envars, -httpd.conf, -mods-available,
> >>> -mods-enabled, -ports.conf, -sites-available, -sites-enabled, -ssl
> >>> Why can I see the files and directories with ls -l /etc/apache2 if it
> is
> >> not
> >>> installed? I thought that ls -l would show me only what is installed,
> am
> >> I
> >>> wrong?
> >>> Thanks
> >>> Meg
> >>
> >> Obviously you tried the --purge option _after_ you uninstalled it. Am I
> >> not correct? Any time you would like to completely remove software, you
> >> can either use your package manager to completely remove it, or you can
> >> use the --purge option with your apt command. The ls -l command lists
> >> contents in the directory you are currently working in or the directory
> in
> >> which you specify for ls to look in. ls -l doesn't _show_ you
> everything,
> >> ls -a does; however, the uninstallation didn't completely remove
> >> everything. Perhaps you could try reinstalling apache, then use the
> purge
> >> option to completely remove it, then reinstall it, _or_ you could just
> >> sudo rm everything.
> >>
> >> Jason
> >
> >
> > It is possible that you are right. So I tried sudo apt-get install
> apache2
> > then apt-get remove --purge apache2 as well as aptitude purge apache2
> (after
> > reinstalling between the two operations) then well as dpkg -P.
> > Each time sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart apache 2 which is not
> installed
> > is working!
> > Is there a reason why it is working when it should have been removed (Did
> it
> > installed twice or more times and removed one of them?)
> > Now it seems that apache 2 is working with my configuration files as I
> > modified  them but I'd like to understand why I can't uninstall it from
> the
> > command line! Oh I forgot it is working but not installed! How is it
> > possible?
> >
> > Meg
> >
>
> How this happened, I'm not quite sure. I don't *think* Linux installs more
> than one installation of a program, in the way that Windows does. However,
> I also don't understand why apt-get --purge didn't completely remove
> everything, including configuration files and others. Can somebody
> enlighten us as to how/why this happened? Perhaps you do have two
> instances of apache2 installed and only one was removed. You could always
> test-drive this theory and see if it is, in fact, right or wrong.
>
> Jason


I installed apache2 again (it was working uninstalled) Before the
installation I found 80 files by searching apache2 now I have 84. I  can't
tell you which one are news because I don't know it myself and I don't know
how to find the files and compare by using the command line yet. I tried to
uninstall and reinstall and I came back to 84 files after the installations.
( 6 of these files are in my home directory, they are backup files from my
other server and files that I have written about apache when I learned how
to configure it ) the other files are in /etc /usr and /var
If I look in /etc the files are installed only once so I don't know but I'd
like to know why I can't remove it completely no matter which command I use.
I would be happy to test anything as long as I know what and how.
Thanks
Meg

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