How to uninstall NODE (local issue)?

Question

Checking program version:

$node -v
>> v7.4.0

Try to remove one:

$sudo apt-get remove --purge node
>> Package 'node' is not installed, so not removed

Check more:

$ which node
>> /usr/local/bin/node

It is installed and I can use, but I can not remove it because of it's uninstalled a confused.

---

Add some details

$npm -v
>>bash: /usr/local/bin/npm: No such file or directory
$nodejs -v
>>bash: /usr/bin/nodejs: No such file or directory

---

Add details

$apt-cache show nodejs npm

Package: nodejs
Version: 0.10.48-1nodesource1~trusty1
Architecture: amd64
Maintainer: Chris Lea <[email protected]>
Installed-Size: 25810
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.15), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1), libstdc++6 (>= 4.1.1), rlwrap
Conflicts: nodejs-dev, nodejs-legacy, npm
Replaces: nodejs-dev, nodejs-legacy, npm
Provides: nodejs-dev, nodejs-legacy, npm
Homepage: http://nodejs.org/
Priority: extra
Section: web
Filename: pool/main/n/nodejs/nodejs_0.10.48-1nodesource1~trusty1_amd64.deb
Size: 4993842
SHA256: 8c0640bc698921c3749e67557cdfde2a5e4092100c316e66d25233c1ddf12125
SHA1: 9b67cca39dab31d16c6cc60290d13068aa9e277a
MD5sum: a3d8a2fc1cbbd748688ec83608ca3817
Description: Node.js event-based server-side javascript engine
 Node.js is similar in design to and influenced by systems like
 Ruby's Event Machine or Python's Twisted.
 .
 It takes the event model a bit further - it presents the event
 loop as a language construct instead of as a library.
 .
 Node.js is bundled with several useful libraries to handle server tasks :
 System, Events, Standard I/O, Modules, Timers, Child Processes, POSIX,
 HTTP, Multipart Parsing, TCP, DNS, Assert, Path, URL, Query Strings.
Description-md5: 964493985d4a02c9abd7e062f9234325

Package: nodejs
Priority: extra
Section: universe/web
Installed-Size: 3043
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <[email protected]>
Original-Maintainer: Debian Javascript Maintainers <[email protected]>
Architecture: amd64
Version: 0.10.25~dfsg2-2ubuntu1
Depends: libc-ares2 (>= 1.8.0), libc6 (>= 2.14), libssl1.0.0 (>= 1.0.1), libstdc++6 (>= 4.1.1), libv8-3.14.5, zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.4)
Filename: pool/universe/n/nodejs/nodejs_0.10.25~dfsg2-2ubuntu1_amd64.deb
Size: 683742
MD5sum: 8d3cdf0c2277eb19f8a8666a54eeeed8
SHA1: b3c1f91229f2689141cc6d1a9a30dd355a444310
SHA256: f2a3aa1f11fcc5e37d50d9ec0e1eb7e255105b79dcb268a9fd8624f5ddead15a
Description-en: evented I/O for V8 javascript
 Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily
 building fast, scalable network applications. Node.js uses an
 event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and
 efficient, perfect for data-intensive real-time applications that run
 across distributed devices.
 .
 Node.js is bundled with several useful libraries to handle server
 tasks:
 .
 System, Events, Standard I/O, Modules, Timers, Child Processes, POSIX,
 HTTP, Multipart Parsing, TCP, DNS, Assert, Path, URL, Query Strings.
Description-md5: e507fb472d7cdaceffc5b285a62d5c1b
Homepage: http://nodejs.org/
Bugs: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+filebug
Origin: Ubuntu

Package: npm
Priority: extra
Section: universe/web
Installed-Size: 1522
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <[email protected]>
Original-Maintainer: Debian Javascript Maintainers <[email protected]>
Architecture: all
Version: 1.3.10~dfsg-1
Depends: nodejs, node-abbrev (>= 1.0.4), node-ansi, node-archy, node-block-stream, node-fstream (>= 0.1.22), node-fstream-ignore, node-github-url-from-git, node-glob (>= 3.1.21), node-graceful-fs (>= 2.0.0), node-inherits, node-ini (>= 1.1.0), node-lockfile, node-lru-cache (>= 2.3.0), node-minimatch (>= 0.2.11), node-mkdirp (>= 0.3.3), node-gyp (>= 0.10.9), node-nopt (>= 2.1.1), node-npmlog, node-once, node-osenv, node-read, node-read-package-json (>= 1.1.0), node-request (>= 2.25.0), node-retry, node-rimraf (>= 2.2.2), node-semver (>= 2.1.0), node-sha, node-slide, node-tar (>= 0.1.18), node-which
Filename: pool/universe/n/npm/npm_1.3.10~dfsg-1_all.deb
Size: 441668
MD5sum: 7f7c6a0b93cd7fcc43277c402b3ff88e
SHA1: d1d9166d346475a010d159e534f21c2862118190
SHA256: dd5599e07175c793f20d2b627273b5af6a665b5a430f281bb8327977481db74e
Description-en: package manager for Node.js
 Node.js is an event-based server-side javascript engine.
 .
 npm is the package manager for the Node JavaScript platform.  It puts
 modules in place so that node can find them, and manages dependency
 conflicts intelligently.
 .
 It is extremely configurable to support a wide variety of use cases.
 Most commonly, it is used to publish, discover, install, and develop
 node programs.
Description-md5: 85ba8bf129c09297837a706dcf08eb1f
Homepage: http://github.com/isaacs/npm
Bugs: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+filebug
Origin: Ubuntu

Add details

$apt-cache show node


Package: node
Priority: optional
Section: universe/hamradio
Installed-Size: 38
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <[email protected]>
Original-Maintainer: Debian Hamradio Maintainers <[email protected]>
Architecture: all
Version: 0.3.2-7.4
Depends: ax25-node
Conflicts: nodejs-legacy
Filename: pool/universe/n/node/node_0.3.2-7.4_all.deb
Size: 1284
MD5sum: 7385a0f5916e03d9143459ca4706f0ec
SHA1: bf7aa087db81475636897ff39de344754ce1415b
SHA256: 9756770f771bcc4183cffa622f89e21a585be96bd4de27024b0a7cb167f310ad
Description-en: Amateur Packet Radio Node program (transitional package)
 The existing node package has been renamed to ax25-node. This transitional
 package exists to ease the upgrade path for existing users.
Description-md5: 1278ed271672fd829c99361f93f468da
Bugs: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+filebug
Origin: Ubuntu

---

Add more details

$apt-cache policy nodejs node npm

nodejs:
   Established: (None)
   Candidate: 0.10.48-1nodesource1 ~ trusty1
   Table versions:
      0.10.48-1nodesource1 ~ trusty1 0
     500 https://deb.nodesource.com/node_0.10/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
      0.10.25 ~ dfsg2-2ubuntu1 0
     500 http://ua.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe amd64 Packages
node:
   Established: (None)
   Candidate: 0.3.2-7.4
   Table versions:
      0.3.2-7.4 0
     500 http://ua.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe amd64 Packages
npm:
   Established: (None)
   Candidate: 1.3.10 ~ dfsg-1
   Table versions:
      1.3.10 ~ dfsg-1 0
     500 http://ua.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe amd64 Packages

Solution 1

The package name of Evented I/O for V8 javascript is nodejs. To remove nodejs and npm:

sudo apt-get purge nodejs npm 

'node' is a purely virtual package. That's why you got the error message: Package 'node' is not installed, so not removed

For a brief description of what these packages do without making any changes to your system:

apt-cache show nodejs npm  

To show whether nodejs and npm are installed and up-to-date without making any changes to your system:

apt-cache policy nodejs npm

Solution 2

If nodejs was installed manually, not with package manager, you may have to remove it manually. If you find node executable in /usr/local/bin, you can do :

cd /usr/local/ && sudo rm -Rf bin/node /bin/npm /bin/npx include/node/ lib/node_modules/ n

See also this complete answer : https://stackoverflow.com/a/41057802/8494080

Solution 3

To remove nodejs and npm:

sudo apt-get purge nodejs

Please note this only removes node related packages i.e. relevant packages, nothing else.

On the other hand, when you do:

sudo apt-get purge --auto-remove nodejs

You combine following two commands as one:

sudo apt-get purge nodejs
sudo apt-get autoremove

So the removal of both gyp, linux-headers-4.4.0-18-generic and dependant packages are autoremoved, as they were install dependencies and are no longer needed. Presumably because the main package has already been removed.

So it is perfectly fine in this context to run:

sudo apt-get purge --auto-remove nodejs

If you are paranoid, you can do this in two steps: first purge nodejs:

sudo apt-get purge nodejs

and then remove any orphaned dependencies (if any):

sudo apt-get autoremove

Comments

[Soren A]

First of all, your use of 'pwd' is wrong. Pwd stands for Print Working Directory .. and thats what it do. And it ignores any argument you gives. You probably need to use 'which node', 'locate node' or 'find / -name node -print' to finde the directory where node lives.

[muru]

How did you install it in the first place?

[Sergii]

I do not remember, I used instruction from home page. Few days before i tried update it but packages were corrupted, so I want clean everything (node, npm ...) to fix packages.

[Sergii]

I used this way to remove my nodejs (if it installed) but it does not help, also i tried sudo apt-get remove --purge nodejs node npm - unsuccessfully.

[Sergii]

Lets suggest node is virtual pachage - so how I can remove it?

[karel]

Package 'node' is not installed on your system, so it can not be removed.

[kitingChris]

Does which node still gives you an output after doing apt-get remove --purge nodejs npm ? There are afaik no virtual packages. Node is an command that is provided by the package nodejs as @karel mentiones.

[karel]

I also have nodejs and npm installed installed on my system, but I don't want to remove these packages, so unfortunately I don't know, however running which node on my system returns nothing.

[Sergii]

@karel, I used your last command, have added details to general question

[Sergii]

@karel, do you think I should look up all node packages \ files and remove manually?

[karel]

Definitely not because the apt commands do an excellent job of managing all of the packages from the default Ubuntu repositories. It should be noted however that the Ubuntu Software app also shows some GNOME packages that are not in the default Ubuntu repositories and are not managed by apt. Therefore apt-cache show cannot locate these packages.

[Sergii]

Do you want me install nodejs to use your instructions? I do not have one, I just need remove my node!

[Sergii]

How I can use cache information to solve my issue?

[Sergii]

@karel, I have added log info for your last instructin

[karel]

Your last edit shows that none of these 3 packages: nodejs, node, and npm are installed on your system.

[Sergii]

@karel, thanks, i see it, but any way it is in my system, and i can not configure my nodejs correctly because of bad links and old node versions in my system.

[karel]

Let us continue this discussion in chat.