How do you uninstall a python package that was installed using distutils?
Yes, it is safe to simply delete anything that distutils installed. That goes for installed folders or .egg files. Naturally anything that depends on that code will no longer work.
If you want to make it work again, simply re-install.
By the way, if you are using distutils also consider using the multi-version feature. It allows you to have multiple versions of any single package installed. That means you do not need to delete an old version of a package if you simply want to install a newer version.
It varies based on the options that you pass to install and the contents of the distutils configuration files on the system/in the package. I don't believe that any files are modified outside of directories specified in these ways.
Notably, distutils does not have an uninstall command at this time.
It's also noteworthy that deleting a package/egg can cause dependency issues – utilities like easy_install attempt to alleviate such problems.
The three things that get installed that you will need to delete are:
- Packages/modules
- Scripts
- Data files
Now on my linux system these live in:
- /usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages
- /usr/bin
- /usr/share
But on a windows system they are more likely to be entirely within the Python distribution directory. I have no idea about OSX except it is more likey to follow the linux pattern.
Another time stamp based hack:
- Create an anchor:
touch /tmp/ts - Reinstall the package to be removed:
python setup.py install --prefix=<PREFIX> - Remove files what are more recent than the anchor file:
find <PREFIX> -cnewer /tmp/ts | xargs rm -r