The best ways to clean up junk in Ubuntu. The five best utilities to clean up the file system in Linux How to clean up a disk in Linux

Original: The five best Linux file system cleaning tools
Author: Jack Wallen
Publication date: January 11, 2012
Translation: A. Krivoshey
Date of transfer: February 2012

Everyone has heard of utilities for cleaning the system in Windows, but few people know that there are similar programs for Linux. Believe it or not, they exist, and today I want to bring them to your attention. Some you have probably heard of, and their functionality will not be news to you. Each of the utilities below will allow you to keep your Linux filesystem in order.

1. Synaptic

This functionality is available in Synaptic (in fact, it is built into apt and many other package managers) - it allows you to get rid of unnecessary configuration files. They usually remain after packages are removed. This feature is very easy to use. Just click the "status" button in the lower left corner of the program window. Next, in the list that appears at the top of the left panel, select "Not installed (configuration files are left)". Now just mark the config files you want to remove and click "Apply". Everything is very simple.

2. BleachBit

It is a handy utility to free up disk space and improve system security. It has versions for Linux and Windows. BleachBit clears various caches, deletes cookies, cleans up your browsing history, temporary files, logs, and removes other garbage that you probably didn't know about, but which is present on every system. BleachBit has a wonderful graphical interface that makes it easy to select what you want to remove. Instead of choosing files or file types, you choose applications or system lists displayed in a tree structure. In addition, you can specify the drives or directories that the program will work with, and even see an overview of what it will do before these actions are applied to your system. BleachBit is much more powerful than most other utilities and should be used with caution.

3. GtkOrphan

GtkOrphan makes it easy to remove unwanted packages from Debian systems. By default, GtkOrphan is not installed, so first you need to install it (from Synaptic or from the command line). GtkOrphan is a GUI for deborphan and it scans and removes unnecessary libraries from the system. Depending on how many of them are in your system, this can free up a lot of disk space. As with any application that removes libraries, it must be used with care so as not to remove anything necessary for the system or programs to work.

4. Cruft

Cruft is a command line utility that scans the system and removes anything that shouldn't be there. It collects most of the results from the dpkg database, as well as a list of "extra files" that are created over the lifetime of various programs on the system, and removes them. The program has a fairly large number of options, including:
-d - search only on specified disks;
-chroots - do not check the validity of symbolic links in the specified directories;
-ignore - ignore the specified directories;
-r - create a file with a report

5. Gconf-Cleaner

Gconf-Cleaner is a utility that can be compared to programs for cleaning the registry in Windows. It scans the Gconf database (Gconf Registry is the configuration database for GNOME) and removes unused and obsolete entries. Gconf-Cleaner is easy to use and, depending on the state of your system, can remove a large number of entries. It is a graphical program and it also requires some care when working with it (just like cleaning the registry in Windows). Although I have never experienced any problems with Gconf-Cleaner, it is theoretically possible to remove the desired GNOME settings with careless handling. But there is good news as well. If you completely ditch your GNOME desktop, you can always delete the GNOME settings directory in your home folder and start over.

Just proceed with caution ...

There are many excellent Linux system cleaning utilities available in Linux. The ones described in this article are easy to use. Just remember to always be careful when cleaning up your system, especially when working with libraries, dependencies, and anything else that requires root access.

Although Linux Mint 18.3 is a stable operating system, you still have to do the preventive maintenance in it with pens. Over time, garbage accumulates in the operating system, and as in any other, which remains after removing programs, unnecessary dependencies, etc. Most experienced users clean the system using the terminal and a simple set of commands.

The main commands that can be run in a terminal window are:

• sudo apt-get autoclean(clears the system of deb packages that are no longer needed, it is recommended to do it periodically);
• sudo apt-get autoremove(removes unremoved dependencies from already removed packages);
• sudo apt-get clean(clears the var / cache / apt / archives directory).

There are also programs for these purposes. One of them is in the Linux Mint repository, it can be installed directly from the "Program Manager", it is called " BleachBit". To install it, you need to launch the "Program Manager", enter the name of the program "BleachBit" in the search field and install it.

Installing the BleachBit program

After installing the program, a shortcut for launching it is placed in the "Menu" in the "Administration" section, I note two shortcuts are created to run the program with and without root rights.

Menu. Section "Administration"

Run the program as root.

Root program

The program launched with administrative rights allows you to clean up the shared partitions of the system, but to clean up the system related to the user, you already need to run the second shortcut.

BleachBit Is an open source program that is designed to clean up free space and increase performance, it is written in Python. The program is designed for Windows and Linux operating systems and is capable of erasing thousands of applications, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Adobe Flash, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari etc. By using BleachBit you can free cache, delete cookies, clear internet history, open temporary files, delete logs and throw away trash. BleachBit not only cleans the system of garbage, but also knows how to shred files in order to prevent their recovery, ensuring confidentiality, and also cleans Firefox to make it faster.

Developer site BleachBit: https://www.bleachbit.org/

For installation BleachBit v Ubuntu use the command:

$ sudo apt-get install bleachbit

or package manager Synaptic

BleachBit helps you clean up potentially unwanted browser caches, old kernels, etc., and handle other system maintenance work as well.

BleachBit very powerful and its advanced features can be difficult for beginners.

Stacer - System Optimization Utility for Ubuntu

Stacer Is an open source application that allows you to monitor the resource consumption of the operating system. The program is written using Framework Electron... The utility allows you to clear the cache, remove unwanted applications, and even stop and start system processes running in the background. The only drawback is the lack of a Russian-language interface. But the program is intuitive.

To start installation Stacer, download the installation package first. It is available at: https://github.com/oguzhaninan/Stacer/releases

Ubuntu Cleaner

Ubuntu Cleaner- a program designed to clear browser caches, remove unnecessary applications. Ubuntu Cleaner based on program developments Ubuntu Tweak created by a Chinese developer Ding zhou(Ding Zhou) specially for Ubuntu OS.

The author of the project Ubuntu Tweak suspended its development from 2014 and switched to the development of a paid analogue for Mac OS... But be that as it may, Ubuntu Tweak alive and still can be used for customization Ubuntu 16.04.

At its core Ubuntu Cleaner- a convenient alternative BleachBit. Ubuntu Cleaner is aimed at novice users who are little familiar with the GNU Linux systems device.

In order to install Ubuntu Cleaner from its own dedicated PPA run the commands:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa: gerardpuig / ppa $ sudo apt-get update $ sudo apt-get install ubuntu-cleaner

Possible installation option .deb package.

Program Ubuntu Cleaner available at: http://ubuntu-cleaner.blogspot.ru/2016/06/ppa.html

DupeGuru

DupeGuru is a tool for finding and removing duplicate files. The program will scan a folder or disk, check all files by name, content, weight and give the result in the form of a visual table. Duplicates found will be removed, if desired, moved or replaced with hard links (with the latter preserving the directory structure, space must be freed). In addition, there are two more versions of the program, specialized in each area of ​​application: service Music Edition for sound files and service Picture - edition for images. These specialized versions are now part of the main program, but are still in the package name.

The program is currently being developed for Mac and Linux... Version for Windows is no longer supported by the developer, but it can be downloaded from the official site, it is fully functional.

To install the latest stable version DupeGuru v Ubuntu, you can use PPA repository. To do this, run sequentially in the terminal command:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa: hsoft / ppa $ sudo apt-get update $ sudo apt-get install dupeguru-se

Search version duplicate music:

$ sudo apt-get install dupeguru-me

Search version duplicate images:

$ sudo apt-get install dupeguru-pe

Object selection in DupeGuru

DupeGuru Settings Panel

Results pane in DupeGuru

The developer DupeGuru coined the term “ fair of goods ". This means that sometimes there is a call for donations at launch. Those who do not donate will use the license program BSD only limited.

Great alternative DupeGuru is an Fslint.

Slightly crazy headline, isn't it? 🙂 Experienced users will clearly chuckle, while beginners will be happy. And all due to the fact that while sitting in Windows it was necessary to constantly clean and optimize the OS, so that it would not slow down corny due to "cluttering" with old files, unnecessary keys in the registry, and so on. It's just that when I myself just moved from Windows to Ubuntu, I tried to find optimization mana and I perfectly understand newbies.

However, in Ubuntu, you still need to sometimes clean the system from the cache with old packages (I use it for this), with which the program BleachBit described below does a great job. It is also able to clean up many more other temporary files, application cache and other "garbage" places. I liked the function of cleaning files Thumbs.db that Windows creates everywhere and everywhere. An overview of the program is below.

When the operating system is running, garbage inevitably accumulates in its various dark corners. These can be remnants of remote programs, temporary files, logs, browser cache, and other things that no one needs. Not all of this garbage can be collected and thrown away manually, so special cleaning programs are used for this. The topic of cleaning in Windows is pretty well covered, so let's talk about cleaning in Ubuntu.

Through the efforts of some open source preachers, the opinion was created that Linux is a super reliable and perfect system that does not even need maintenance, unlike "this Windows of yours". However, this is not at all the case, and dirt, for example, accumulates in Ubuntu no less, and maybe more than in Windows. Therefore, to clean up disk space, speed up the system, safely delete data, it is better to use the utility BleachBit.

BleachBit Is a handy free system cleaner that comes in both Linux and Windows versions. The utility has a simple and intuitive interface in Russian. All points are provided with detailed tips, so that its use will not raise questions even for novice users.

The principle of working with the program is very simple and boils down to the choice of cleaning options using the checkboxes in the middle column. Then you can click the "Preview" button to find the trash and then "Delete" to remove it. My program found more than a gigabyte of unnecessary files in just a few seconds.

In addition to the usual search and removal of garbage, BleachBit can perform a number of special operations:

• Linux memory and swap cleanup
• Removing faulty shortcuts
• Removing unused localizations
• APT cleaning for Debian, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Linux Mint
• Overwriting a blank space to make it impossible to recover previously deleted files
• Compressing the databases of many programs to save space

Please note that some functions of the program require elevated rights, so you should run the program with administrator rights, for which there is a special shortcut in the main menu.

Generally, BleachBit is an indispensable helper for keeping your system clean and freeing up extra hard disk space.

You can install the program from the Ubuntu Application Center or by downloading the installation file from the program's website. There is also a version for Windows available for download, which can clean up traces of more than 500 programs and is a worthy competitor to Ccleaner.

Linux is a wonderful operating system. But it also needs care, cleaning, cleaning, as it also gradually accumulates unnecessary garbage in the form of old packages, no longer needed configuration files, temporary files, and so on. There are many special utilities for Windows, for example, the well-known ccleaner.

The program cleans Windows well from everything unnecessary, I myself have used it more than once. Is there something similar for Linux? about all the unnecessary junk?

1. How to clean Linux using Bleachbit?

The first place to start is to install the right software that brings everything together. This is the Bleachbit program.

Sudo apt-get install bleachbit

The menu contains system utilities, the bleachbit program will appear, or rather, even two shortcuts. One can be run under regular users, the second with administrator rights. It is clear that in the second case, you can clean much more than in the first. Run bleachbit (root):

What do we see?

autoclean: for removes only "defective" packages from the cache.

autoremove: removes not removed dependencies from already removed packages.

clean: this is when you need to free up as much space as possible and delete the entire cache.

Bash: Delete command history. These are trifles, and it is generally not clear why you need it - if only you want to hide the commands that you typed.

Now just check the boxes next to the items that you want to clean. After that we press the "Clear" button. That's all, it is very easy to clean Linux in this way! But there are other ways as well.

3. How do I clean up Linux with Mundus?

But garbage accumulates not only in system files, but also in the home directory. We install programs, then uninstall them, but the settings files from these programs remain in the home directory. How do I clean up this junk from the system?

For this, there is also a special program called Mundus, which can be downloaded from the developers website - launchpad.net/mundus. Download the .deb or .rpm package and install it as usual. At the output, we get the following program:

After starting the program, it immediately starts scanning the home folder, after which it gives out all the configuration files.

After that, you can manually clean unnecessary configs using the "Clean" button. I myself have just started using this program, so I have not yet learned the subtleties, but I think there is nothing complicated.

There are undoubtedly other programs and ways to clean up Linux, but these two programs are generally enough. If you know more ways to clean Linux, please write in the comments.

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11 comments

11 comments on the article "How to clean Linux?"

good utility -replaces cd / var / cache / apt / archives and then sudo rm * .deb-click less on the keyboard))) interesting, but there are ways to find out (except for direct viewing) which configs in / home are no longer needed -t. e "tails" of remote applications and in general where else "tails" remain after uninstallations?

I have not met this. And is she really needed? We deleted the program, your individual settings remained in it. And then they decided to put it on again - and oops, everything was set up right away. And in general, it's probably easy to remove it manually. And this does not affect performance, not to mention the free space.

Although if I write a meeting here.

I found a program that can clean the home folder, and I finished writing the article.

Ubuntu Tweak does not clear thumbnail cache in ubuntu 14-04. Everything was fine in ubuntu 12-04.

Yes, the program generally deteriorated, the first versions were wonderful, and then somehow everything went wrong, I personally stopped using it.

Thank you, I will insert a phrase into the article that you need to proceed CAUTION!