A Complete Guide to Uninstalling Docker completely on Pop!_OS and Ubuntu-based Systems
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Steps
Stop the service
It’s not mandatory, but before uninstalling, it's a good practice to stop any running Docker services.
sudo systemctl stop docker
Remove docker packages
It’s used to completely and forcefully remove a list of specified packages from a Debian-based Linux system like Pop!_OS. All the following packages are docker related.
In short, this command aims to leave no trace of the specified Docker packages, which is an essential step for a complete and thorough uninstallation.
sudo apt-get purge -y docker-engine docker docker.io docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd runc
and also
sudo apt-get purge -y docker-compose-plugin
Clean up leftover files
In summary, the command is a non-interactive, forced, and recursive deletion of all major Docker-related data and configuration directories. This is an essential step for a complete uninstallation.
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/docker/ /var/lib/containerd/ /etc/docker ~/.docker/
Remove docker group
When you install Docker, it creates a docker group. This group is created for security and convenience, allowing users to run Docker commands without needing sudo every time.
In this case, since we don’t need it anymore, we’re going to delete the docker group.
sudo groupdel docker
Remove docker repository entry
By deleting this file, you are essentially telling your system to stop looking for Docker updates from the official Docker repository. This is an important step in a complete uninstallation, as it ensures that apt-get update no longer tries to connect to a repository for a program that you no longer want on your system.
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
Remove dependencies
In summary, the goal is to remove old, useless downloaded package files to free up disk space, but it does not remove any installed software.
It is a maintenance command that is good to run periodically after uninstalling software or upgrading your system.
sudo apt-get autoremove -y --purge docker-ce docker-ce-cli
sudo apt-get autoclean
Verify the installation
docker --version
docker compose --version
docker
Output
