PKG_DELETE(1)           System General Commands Manual           PKG_DELETE(1)

NAME
     pkg_delete - a utility for deleting previously installed software package
     distributions

SYNOPSIS
     pkg_delete [-AcdDfhLMnqQUvV] [-p prefix] [-P basepath] pkg-name [...]

DESCRIPTION
     The pkg_delete command is used to delete packages that have been previ-
     ously installed with the pkg_add(1) command.

     Package names may be specified either as the package name itself, or as
     filenames which consist of the package name plus the ``.tgz'' ,
     ``.tar.gz'' , or the ``.tar'' suffix.

     The options are as follows:

     pkg-name [...]
             The named packages are deinstalled.

     -A      Delete all of the installed packages except for the install pack-
             age ("pkg") and the packages it depends on. This option can take
             a long time when you have many packages installed. Care should be
             taken when using this option.  If two or more of this option are
             specified then all packages will be deleted.

     -d      Remove empty directories created by file cleanup.  By default,
             only files/directories explicitly listed in a package's contents
             (either as normal files/directories or with the @dirrm directive)
             will be removed at deinstallation time.  This option tells
             pkg_delete to also remove any directories that were emptied as a
             result of removing the package.

     -D      If a deinstallation script exists for a given package, do not
             execute it.

     -f      Force removal of the package, even if a dependency is recorded or
             the deinstall or require script fails.

     -h      Display pkg_delete usage options.

     -i      Inform the user when the delete of a package starts.

     -L      Do not take the packaging lock. This option should only be used
             in very, very rare instances. Normally a lock is taken to ensure
             that packaging commands do not run at the same time and thus
             cause problems for each other.

     -M      Match the given pkg-name with regard to the version number first
             (if given) and then match to just the basename of the pkg-name.

     -n      Don't actually deinstall a package, just report the steps that
             would be taken if it were.

     -p prefix
             Set prefix as the directory in which to delete files from any
             installed packages which do not explicitly set theirs.  For most
             packages, the prefix will be set automatically to the installed
             location by pkg_add(1).

     -P basepath
             Base all utilities to be run from the directory basepath instead
             of /bin/ (the default). All utilities to be run are specified
             with full paths to well known locations instead of relying on the
             PATH environment variable to avoid potential spoofs.

     -q      Delete package quickly, do not bother checking md5s before remov-
             ing files.

     -Q      Quiet messages that will not affect the success of the delete.
             This is usually used to quiet (supress) messages that may appear
             to the average user to be indicating a problem when there really
             is no problem. This does not conflict with the -v option.

     -U      Indicate to pkg_delete that it is doing the delete as part of an
             update for a package. It is not recommended that the user use
             this option as it is intended to be used by pkg_add invoking
             pkg_delete only. You have been warned.

     -v      Turn on verbose output.

     -V      Print version number and exit.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
     pkg_delete does pretty much what it says.  It examines installed package
     records in /var/db/pkg/, deletes the package contents, and
     finally removes the package records.

     If a package is required by other installed packages, pkg_delete will
     list those dependent packages and refuse to delete the package (unless
     the -f option is given).

     If the package contains a require file (see pkg_create(1)), then this is
     executed first as

           require  DEINSTALL

     (where pkg-name is the name of the package in question and DEINSTALL is a
     keyword denoting that this is a deinstallation) to see whether or not
     deinstallation should continue.  A non-zero exit status means no, unless
     the -f option is specified.

     If a deinstall script exists for the package, it is executed before any
     files are removed.  It is this script's responsibility to clean up any
     additional messy details around the package's installation, since all
     pkg_delete knows how to do is delete the files created in the original
     distribution.  The deinstall script is called as:

           deinstall  DEINSTALL

     Passing the keyword DEINSTALL lets you potentially write only one pro-
     gram/script that handles all aspects of installation and deletion.

     All scripts are called with the environment variable PKG_PREFIX set to
     the installation prefix (see the -p option above).  This allows a package
     author to write a script that reliably performs some action on the direc-
     tory where the package is installed, even if the user might have changed
     it by specifying the -p option when running pkg_delete or pkg_add.

     The environment variable PKG_DELETE_EXTRA is also set during execution to
     indicate to scripts the state of the -c option: "Yes" when specified and
     "No" when not specified.

SEE ALSO
     pkg_add(1), pkg_create(1), pkg_info(1), mkstemp(3), mtree(8)

AUTHORS
     Jordan Hubbard
             most of the work
     John Kohl
             refined it for NetBSD
     Rodney Ruddock
             enhancements for Interix from the OpenBSD changes.

WARNING
     Since the pkg_delete command may execute scripts or programs provided by
     a package file, your system may be susceptible to ``trojan horses'' or
     other subtle attacks from miscreants who create dangerous package files.

     You are advised to verify the competence and identity of those who pro-
     vide installable package files.  For extra protection, examine all the
     package control files in the package record directory
     (/var/db/pkg//).  Pay particular attention to any +INSTALL,
     +DEINSTALL, +REQUIRE or +MTREE_DIRS files, and inspect the +CONTENTS file
     for @cwd, @mode (check for setuid), @dirrm, @exec, and @unexec direc-
     tives, and/or use the pkg_info(1) command to examine the installed pack-
     age control files.

Interix                       September 11, 2006                       Interix