Uninstall Python packages built from source

Question

How do I uninstall Python packages that have been built from source and installed via...

python setup.py build
python setup.py install

?

Answer 1

If your package provider didn't produce a setup.py uninstall method then, more often than not, you can just manually remove the package from your Python's site-packages directory.

This will be located at /usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages or equivalent for your distro and version of Python. Within that there will be either a directory or a .egg file corresponding to the package's name. Simply delete that.

There are some instances where packages will install stuff elsewhere. Django for instance installs django-admin.py to /usr/sbin. Your best bet is to run setup.py install again, make a note of what it is installing where and then cleanup.

Answer 2

You need to delete the folder and files that were created for the package in the site-packages folder of python.

I'm not sure where it is on Ubuntu but it is probably something like:

/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages

but it could be in lib64 if you have a 64bit install and the python version might be different so adjust the path accordingly.

Answer 3

Building on what everyone has said, if you just installed it ( say within the last 20 minutes), the following might help you find what you need to delete:

find /usr/lib/python* -cmin -20