Ever wanted to find out how to install Ubuntu Cleaner on Ubuntu 22.04 OS? Here’s all you need to know about it.
The Ubuntu Cleaner can be used to remove unnecessary files. This way, it can save space on the hard drive and increase the system’s performance. We will discuss the installation instruction for Ubuntu Cleaner. We will discuss two ways to install the Ubuntu Cleaner. It can be installed via the ppa repository. Alternatively, we can install it from the source code.
Before moving towards the discussion, we will first take a look at Ubuntu Cleaner and its features. Then, we will move toward the installation instructions. The two methods of installation will be addressed. Finally, we will discuss how to uninstall the software from the system.
What is Ubuntu Cleaner?
Ubuntu Cleaner is a valuable utility for cleaning unwanted files on your system. The following are the essential features of Ubuntu Cleaner:
- It is free and open source. The source code is available here
- It provides an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI)
- It can be used to clear the browser’s cache, apt-cache, and thumbnail cache
- You can remove the packages that are no longer needed
- You can remove old kernels using this software
- You can remove old installers using this software
The Ubuntu Cleaner is not available from the standard Ubuntu repository.
You can download the package from the following two locations: the .deb package from the developer or the ppa repository.
How to Install Ubuntu Cleaner on Ubuntu via ppa Repository
If you want to install Ubuntu Cleaner using the ppa repository, follow the steps below.
Update your system
The very first step is to update your system. For this purpose, open the Terminal and type the following command on your Terminal:
$sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y
Install software-properties-common packages
The next step is the installation of software-properties-common packages. This can be used to add PPA. Open your Terminal and type the following command:
$sudo apt install software-properties-common
Add the PPA
The next step is to add PPA for the Ubuntu Cleaner package. For this purpose, type the following command:
$sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gerardpuig/ppa
Now run the following command to reflect the changes:
$sudo apt update -y
Refresh apt-cache
Now, refresh your apt-cache with the help of the following command:
$sudo apt update
Install Ubuntu Cleaner
Finally, you can install the Ubuntu Cleaner with the help of the following command:
$sudo apt install ubuntu-cleaner
Install Ubuntu Cleaner from Source Code
Besides using the ppa repository, you can also install Ubuntu Cleaner from the source code. For this purpose, follow the steps below.
Get the source code
First, get the source code from GitHub. For this purpose, type the following command on your Terminal:
$git clone https://github.com/gerardpuig/ubuntu-cleaner.git
Running the program from the source
You can run the program from the source as follows:
$./ubuntu-cleaner
Run unit test
Now, run the unit test as follows:
$make test
Create deb package
Finally, create a deb package as follows:
$make deb
$make clean
Summing up the above discussion:
- Using the make .deb, generates a .deb package that can be readily installed
- Make clean is used to clean all the generated files due to .deb compilation
- Make test runs the test case
Uninstall Ubuntu Cleaner
There are situations where you may want to remove the Ubuntu Cleaner from your system. For instance, the software may malfunction, or you may want an upgraded version. In addition, there could be a better alternative. You can remove the Ubuntu Cleaner from your system in all those situations. For this purpose, type the following command on your terminal:
$sudo apt remove ubuntu-cleaner && sudo apt autoremove
Running the Ubuntu Cleaner
Once the Ubuntu Cleaner is installed on your system, you can run it via the following steps:
- Search the Ubuntu Cleaner on the Ubuntu system bar. Type “Ubuntu Cleaner”
- Now click on launch to run the software.
Another approach to launch Ubuntu Cleaner is by running the following command on the Terminal:
$ubuntu-cleaner
It will take a while, and the Ubuntu Cleaner will be launched, as shown in the figure below.
Before concluding the article, we will briefly discuss the usage of Ubuntu Cleaner. On the left of the interface, you have different sections for cleaning. This includes the app-cache, apt-cache, old kernel, package configurations, and unneeded packages. You can select whatever you want to remove and then press the clean button to put this easy application to use.
In this article, we have discussed how to install Ubuntu Cleaner on the system. It can be used to remove unwanted files and packages from your system. This frees up space that is unnecessarily occupied. We have discussed two approaches to installation. The installation can be done via the ppa repository. Since the application is open source, it can be downloaded from github.com, and a .deb package can be created. We also discussed how the software could be uninstalled (if needed).
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