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I have downloaded texlive2017-20170524.iso from http://muug.ca/mirror/ctan/systems/texlive/Images/.

If I install it via sudo ./install-tl, how can I remove it from my system later on when I don't want it?

Will I only need to follow the answer at Removing TeX Live?
(sudo apt-get remove texlive)

Since I didn't install it via sudo apt-get install texlive, I'm not sure if it applies

tfstwbbnb
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2 Answers2

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Just rm -rf the directory where you installed TeXLive (watch out for typos!) and revert any manual changes you may have made such as altering your PATH environment variable.

fkraiem
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    The problem is, I do not know where sudo ./install-tl installs to – tfstwbbnb Dec 15 '17 at 06:06
  • The installation directory is chosen by you when you install, so you should know what it is... – fkraiem Dec 15 '17 at 07:00
  • By the way, note that it is not necessary to run the install script with sudo (which means you should not do it). Instead, give yourself write permission to the installation directory, and run the install script without sudo. – fkraiem Dec 15 '17 at 07:13
  • I get to choose the install directory when I ./install-tl? Anyway, I am having running the script (see https://askubuntu.com/questions/986646/installing-texlive-from-iso) – tfstwbbnb Dec 16 '17 at 03:45
  • @fkraiem I bet that the vast majority use the default path without thinking about it too much. – Horror Vacui Sep 16 '21 at 09:13
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When a package that is in the repos is relatively current. I recommend using the normal package management methods. Using the official repos or well maintained ppa's allows you to receive future updates with minimal effort. When the target system is air gapped, apt-offline is a viable method to manage packages.

Downloaded installers may or may not include uninstall scripts. If the software doesn't it can be difficult to properly remove all of the components. However you can manually uninstall by looking into the install script to find where the components were installed. If you are not familiar with the language of the installer, Perl in this case, mostly look at the comments.

In the case of the install-tl in install-tl-unx.tar.gz. The comments on lines 1393-1401 list "Environment variables and default values on UNIX". The install dir is listed as /usr/local/texlive. The user config files should be in ~/.texlive2017/, leaving them likely will not cause any issues. rm -rf /usr/local/texlive should remove the program. Your PATH variable may be altered to include /usr/local/texlive, however that is just an informed guess.

# Environment variables and default values on UNIX:
#   TEXLIVE_INSTALL_PREFIX         /usr/local/texlive   => $tex_prefix
#   TEXLIVE_INSTALL_TEXDIR         $tex_prefix/2010     => $TEXDIR
#   TEXLIVE_INSTALL_TEXMFSYSVAR    $TEXDIR/texmf-var
#   TEXLIVE_INSTALL_TEXMFSYSCONFIG $TEXDIR/texmf-config
#   TEXLIVE_INSTALL_TEXMFLOCAL     $tex_prefix/texmf-local
#   TEXLIVE_INSTALL_TEXMFHOME      '$HOME/texmf'
#   TEXLIVE_INSTALL_TEXMFVAR       ~/.texlive2010/texmf-var
#   TEXLIVE_INSTALL_TEXMFCONFIG    ~/.texlive2010/texmf-config
J. Starnes
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  • This does not answer the question; downvoted and flagged. – fkraiem Dec 15 '17 at 05:55
  • I downloaded an "offline" version for reasons. I can look through the install script, but it is 95 KiB (way too long for me to read line by line manually) - I can upload it for you and you may go through it if you like – tfstwbbnb Dec 15 '17 at 06:04