1.2.3. Removing

yum remove <package_name> uninstalls (removes in RPM and Yum terminology) the package, as well as any packages that depend on it. As when you install multiple packages, you can remove several at once by adding more package names to the command:

 yum remove foo bar baz

Similar to install, remove can take these arguments:

package names
glob expressions
file lists
package provides

Warning: Removing a Package when Other Packages Depend On It

Yum is not able to remove a package without also removing packages which depend on it. This type of operation can only be performed by RPM, is not advised, and can potentially leave your system in a non-functioning state or cause applications to misbehave and/or crash. For further information, refer to Section 3.2.4, “Uninstalling” in the RPM chapter.

Removing a Package Group

You can remove a package group using syntax congruent with the install syntax.

Example 1.6. Alternative but equivalent ways of removing a package group

~]# yum groupremove "KDE (K Desktop Environment)"
~]# yum groupremove kde-desktop
~]# yum remove @kde-desktop

Smart package group removal

When you tell yum to remove a package group, it will remove every package in that group, even if those packages are members of other package groups or dependencies of other installed packages. However, you can instruct yum to remove only those packages which are not required by any other packages or groups by adding the groupremove_leaf_only=1 directive to the [main] section of the /etc/yum.conf configuration file. For more information on this directive, refer to Section 1.3.1, “Setting [main] Options”.