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How to Completely Uninstall Apache2 on Ubuntu?

By Steven, on December 5, 2024 - 2 min read

Apache2 is a highly popular web server, frequently used on Linux-based operating systems like Ubuntu.

However, there may be situations where you want to uninstall it, whether to free up system resources, switch to another web server, or resolve configuration issues. That’s why Debugbar has prepared a detailed guide on how to cleanly remove Apache2 from your Ubuntu server. You will see that with the right method, it’s not rocket science.

Table of Contents

1. Stop the Apache2 Service

Before proceeding with any uninstallation operation, it is crucial to stop the Apache2 service if it is currently running. To do this, open a terminal and enter the following command with administrative privileges (sudo):

sudo systemctl stop apache2

This command stops all processes related to Apache2, preventing any conflicts during the removal process.

2. Uninstall Apache2 Packages

Once the service is stopped, you can proceed with uninstalling Apache2 and its components. Use the apt command with the purge option to remove both the packages and their configuration files:

sudo apt-get purge apache2 apache2-utils apache2-bin apache2.2-common

The apt package manager will handle the removal of all elements associated with Apache2 present on your Linux / Ubuntu system.

3. Clean Up Unused Dependencies

Even after uninstallation, Apache2 may leave one or more files that have become unnecessary on your server. To remove them and free up disk space, execute the autoremove command:

sudo apt-get autoremove

This allows apt to automatically identify and remove any dependencies that are no longer required after the removal of Apache.

4. Delete Residual Configuration Files

Despite using the purge option, some Apache2 config files may persist. To manually delete them, use the rm command with caution:

sudo rm -rf /etc/apache2

Make sure you don’t need these files before permanently deleting them.

5. Check that everything has been completely uninstalled

To ensure that Apache2 has been successfully removed from your Ubuntu system, you can use the dpkg command to list installed packages containing “apache2” in their name:

dpkg -l | grep apache2

If no results are returned, it confirms that the server has been uninstalled successfully.

In summary, uninstalling Apache2 on Linux/Ubuntu is a straightforward procedure that involves stopping the service, purging the packages, cleaning up dependencies, and deleting config files.

By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can cleanly remove Apache from your server and switch to alternative solutions if necessary. Remember to backup your important data before performing any such operation.

Steven