What packages can I remove if I don't need a GUI?

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1

I have an old[ish] BBB which I have (hopefully) upgraded from wheezy
to jessie. However it has a GUI installed which I don't need at all
because the only access is via ssh.

What are the easiest/biggest packages that I can remove to save space?
It doesn't have to be a perfect GUI removal, I just want to get some
more space available.

2

Rather than removing things, you are better off starting with the IoT version of the Debian Release.
It is about half the size of the LXQT version, and all it does is remove the GUI and drivers.
If you want to build a smaller custom application version, you can start with the “console” version, which is about one fourth the size of the LXQT version, but you will need to add anything you need for the application.

http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian

— Graham

3

Yes, ideally I'd just install a console image but I can't.

This all stems from my Debian 7 BBB that refused to install a newer
image despite all my efforts.

I've finally managed to get it to upgrade itself by changing all the
references to 'wheezy' to 'jessie' in /etc/apt. However this means I
still have a full GUI install.

I *can't* (for whatever reason) install a new image so I want to pare
down the current installation somewhat to save some space. It's not
particularly tight at the moment but it would be nice to have some
more spare space and updating all the GUI stuff that I will never use
seems pretty silly as well.

4

Take a look at this:

https://www.ccoderun.ca/bbtools/doc/bbtools.html

Halfway down the table is a script called “ccr_remove_x.sh” which removes packages directly related to X.

Stéphane

5

Thanks, just what I needed, a list of packages to remove. It's maybe
not perfect but it will do the bulk of what I need.

6

Take a look at this:

https://www.ccoderun.ca/bbtools/doc/bbtools.html

Halfway down the table is a script called “ccr_remove_x.sh” which removes
packages directly related to X.

Thanks, just what I needed, a list of packages to remove. It’s maybe
not perfect but it will do the bulk of what I need.

OK, I’ll bite – if not exactly what you need, what can I do to make it better so it does what you need?

Stéphane

7

Sorry, I didn't really mean to say there was anything wrong with it,
the GUI removal script does just what it's supposed to do.

All I meant was that I probably still have quite a few redundant
packages I don't need which wouldn't be there if I had been able to
install a console image.

As it is I'm down to 32% use of the eMMC and that's fine, gives me
lots of headroom.

8

... and a little searching revealed a few more things I could remove:-

    The .gem directory in /root, something left over from ruby I think
    /opt/cloud9
    /usr/lib/chromium (quite a lot of stuff left in here)
    vim (I just happen to use vile rather than vim)

So I'm now down to 25% usage which is absolutely fine. :slight_smile:

9

Here’s a list of apt packages which I purge from my beagles.

  • “apache2”
  • “apache2-utils”
  • “apache2-data”
  • “apache2-bin”
  • “xrdp”
  • “lxde”
  • “lxde-common”
  • “lxde-core”
  • “chromium-browser”
  • “lightdm”
  • “xorg”
  • “xorg-docs-core”
  • “xserver-xorg”
  • “xserver-xorg-core”
  • “xserver-xorg-input-all”
  • “xserver-xorg-video-all”
  • “xserver-common”
  • “x11-apps”
  • “python-wicd”
  • “wicd-cli”
  • “wicd-curses”
  • “wicd-daemon”
  • “wicd-gtk”
  • “wicd”
  • “bb-node-red-installer”
  • “haveged”
  • “pulseaudio”
  • “pulseaudio-utils”
  • “pulseaudio-module-bluetooth”
  • “pulseaudio-module-x11”
  • “bonescript”
  • “bone101”
  • “nodejs”
  • “javascript-common”
  • “doc-beaglebone-getting-started”
  • “doc-beaglebonegreen-getting-started”
  • “doc-seeed-bbgw-getting-started”
  • “mpg123”
  • “alsa-utils”
  • “libpulse0”
  • “libasound2-plugins”
  • “ti-pru-cgt-installer”

Some files which I manually delete after the packages have been purged:

  • “/var/local/bb_usb_mass_storage.img”
  • “/var/local/bbg_usb_mass_storage.img”
  • “/var/local/bbgw_usb_mass_storage.img”
  • “/var/cache/doc-beaglebone-getting-started”
  • “/var/cache/doc-beaglebonegreen-getting-started”
  • “/var/cache/doc-seeed-bbgw-getting-started”
  • “/var/lib/cloud9”
  • “/var/cache/ti-pru-cgt-installer”