Chapter 6 Removing Software

The swremove command removes software that has been installed on a host. Before its removal, the software is first unconfigured (if it was installed in the default directory). swremove also removes software products that have been copied to a software depot but unconfigure scripts are not run on depot software (see “Removing Software from Depots ”).

The swremove command offers the following features:

It removes files from the specified location. It removes symbolic links, but not the targets of symbolic links. It also lists busy files that were not removed.
It supports the execution of control scripts (both product and fileset) including:
- checkremove scripts that make sure the removal will succeed (if this check fails, the product cannot be removed). For example, the script could check to see if anyone is currently using the software.
- unconfigure scripts that unconfigure the software on the host. For example, removing configuration from the host's /etc/profile or /sbin/rc files. This moves the software from the CONFIGURED state back to the INSTALLED state.
- preremove scripts that perform actions before the removal such as moving a specific fileset to another location before removing the rest of the filesets in the product.
- postremove scripts that perform actions after the removal such as replacing the above example fileset (that was moved to another location) back to its original location after removing the filesets.
  Preremove and postremove scripts cannot be used to unconfigure the host for the software or to unconfigure the software for the host. They are to be used for simple file management needs such as restoring files moved during installation.
Before removal, swremove allows software to unconfigure the host on which it has been running. See the "Configuration/Unconfiguration" section in Chapter 3 “Configuring and Verifying Software”.

For more information on scripts, see Appendix B “Control Scripts ”.

The SD-UX swcluster command is used to remove software from an NFS diskless server. In its "remove mode" (swcluster -r), swcluster supports removal of only non-kernel software. However, as long as at least one client is using a shared root, the kernel software cannot be removed (or else the client will cease to run. To completely remove a shared root, no client must be using it. For more information on removing software from diskless clusters, and “Installing/Updating Software on a Cluster Server ”




	NOTE: Removing a bundle does not always remove all filesets in that bundle. If a certain fileset is required by another bundle, that fileset will not be removed. For example, if the bundles `Pascal` and `FORTRAN` both use the fileset `Debugger.Run` and you try to remove `FORTRAN`, the fileset `Debugger.Run` will not be removed because it is also used by the bundle `Pascal`. This is done to prevent the removal of one bundle from inadvertently causing the removal of a fileset needed by another bundle.

Chapter 6 Removing Software

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