In this process, we will investigate the role of using YUM with the intention of removing packages from your server. During the lifetime of your server, it is possible that certain applications and services may no longer be required. In such situations, it is typical that you will want to remove such packages in order to optimize your working environment, and it is the purpose of this process to show you how this is done.
To Start With: What Do You Need?
To complete this process, you will require a working installation of the CentOS 7 operating system with root privileges, a console-based text editor of your choice, and a connection to the Internet.
The Process:
This process will show you how to remove one or more packages by invoking the yum remove option. To do this, you will need to log in as the root user and complete the following process:
- To remove a single package, replace the package_name value with the appropriate value and type the following:
yum remove package_name - Wait for the transaction summary and confirmation prompt to be displayed, and then press either the Y key to confirm, or the N key to decline the transaction, as shown next:
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y - If you have declined the transaction, then no further work is required and you will exit YUM. However, if you have confirmed the transaction, then simply watch the progress of package removal until it is confirmed and prints out a Complete! message.
How Does It Work?
Applications that are no longer required can be removed with YUM. The process is very intuitive and similar to installing a new package, and it only requires you to confirm the name of the packages you want to remove.
So, what have we learned from this experience?
Having invoked the remove command, YUM will search your system to discover the relevant package; and by reading the package headers and metadata, it will also determine what dependencies this will affect. For example, if we wanted to remove a package called wget, we would begin by issuing the remove command like so: yum remove wget. YUM,
in turn, would then locate the package details from your system and obtain a transaction summary that may include any necessary dependencies that are no longer required. The transaction printed out will remain pending until you instruct YUM to remove the package(s) concerned. When confirmed, YUM will complete the transaction, which in return will result in the removal of the package or packages.
You should take extra care if the summary makes reference to any dependencies as these may be required by other RPMs. If you are concerned that certain dependencies should remain on the system, it is often a good idea to end the current transaction and simply de-activate or disable the software concerned. As with the install command, you can also remove multiple packages at a time, leaving a single space between the package names:yum remove package_name1 package_name2 package_name3
