I think once we get the packages with apt-get it stores in /var/cache/apt/archives . Is it safe to remove the archives files to save space? Can we remove other files as well to save some space?
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I think it's safe to remove the archives files. So if you want to free up disk space this are my recommendations:
To delete downloaded packages (.deb) already installed (and no longer needed)
sudo apt-get clean
To remove all stored archives in your cache for packages that can not be downloaded anymore (thus packages that are no longer in the repository or that have a newer version in the repository).
sudo apt-get autoclean
To remove unnecessary packages (After uninstalling an app there could be packages you don't need anymore).
sudo apt-get autoremove
To delete old kernel versions
sudo apt-get remove --purge linux-image-X.X.XX-XX-generic
If you don't know which kernel version to remove
dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-image
Source: Limpiando Ubuntu: comandos y programas (actualización) & How do I free up disk space?
Iman Mohamadi
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DrKenobi
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1Very nice, thanks! Curiously though, have you even had the need to go on to an older kernel version? I did a couple of times between 2005 and 2009 but not lately. – itsols Sep 19 '13 at 03:48
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I found `apt-get --purge autoremove` at http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/debian-ubuntu-linux-delete-old-kernel-images-command/ which you can use to remove old linux kernel images – Jelmer Oct 31 '16 at 19:46
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@itsols I have to revert a kernel a few days ago, a laptop would not boot with the new kernel. – ctrl-alt-delor Jan 08 '19 at 09:34
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Yes, it is generally safe to remove them, unless you had a bad Internet connection and you needed to reinstall certain packages.
To remove them, open a terminal and type:
sudo apt-get clean
You can also use Ubuntu-tweak and Bleachbit.
Reda Lazri
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And related at the clean cache... you can use this command
sudo dpkg --purge `COLUMNS=300 dpkg -l "*" | egrep "^rc" | cut -d\ -f3`
in order to delete all configuration related to unistalled program.
And:
1) localepurge: for delete localizazion packages not interested for you
2) deporphan and his gnome interface gtkorphan.
peppe84
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egrep appears to be deprecated nowadays; it can be replaced by "grep -E" – db-inf Oct 08 '20 at 07:55
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According to this : http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/28502/how-to-free-up-a-lot-of-disk-space-on-ubuntu-linux-by-deleting-cached-package-files/ there is an option to disable caching in synaptic package manager...
Does anyone know where is the configuration being defined? (no where in /etc/apt/ as far as I can tell)
bruno.braga
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1Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, [it would be preferable](http://meta.stackexchange.com/q/8259) to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference. Additionally please use the Post answer button only for actual answers, if you have a question, add it either as a comment to your answer or the original question. – Oyibo Feb 24 '13 at 15:26
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1Sorry for that, but some how I missed the "add comment" link (have the feeling it was not there and I added an answer) until it was too late... be careful next time. – bruno.braga Feb 25 '13 at 11:35
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You can run 'sudo apt-get clean' to clean out any cached .debs. If they're needed, they will be downloaded again. There's also a program called computer-janitor to help with removing old files.
micahg
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1Hum... the point here is setting a flag that disables .DEB caching one and for all... if that is really available, doing anything else (crons to delete old files, etc) sounds like reinventing the wheel to me. – bruno.braga Feb 24 '13 at 15:24
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If you messed around with installing partial packages then "apt-get autoclean" removes them too.
I run a Cron job to do this on some systems backed up to the Cloud to keep file sizes down.
HTH,
JR
Jonathan Ross
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