How To Remove Everything Except The Base System In Arch Linux

I use Oracle VirtualBox to test various Linux distributions. Recently, I wanted to experiment with different desktop environments on my Arch Linux, such as Deepin, MATE, LXDE, and XFCE. However, some environments were already installed, and I didn't have enough space to install others or any additional applications. More importantly, I wanted a fresh Arch Linux system. Reinstalling Arch from scratch seemed too tedious and time-consuming, which I wanted to avoid. While searching for a simpler solution, I discovered that it's possible to remove everything except the base system in Arch Linux.

This approach allows us to avoid reinstalling the entire Arch Linux OS each time. Instead, we can quickly remove all packages except for the base system and then install other applications or desktop environments on top of the base system as often as needed.

This method saves a significant amount of time since we don't need to install Arch Linux from scratch each time. If you're curious about how to do this, you're on the right track. Keep reading.

Remove Everything Except the Base System in Arch Linux

As usual, I strongly recommend you to backup of your important data and system configuration files in your Arch Linux system. Check the following link to know how to backup everything using rsync:

• How To Backup Your Entire Linux System Using Rsync

What we are going to do is mark all packages as dependencies, and then mark the base system as explicitly installed packages and finally remove the orphaned packages.

First, let us mark all packages as dependencies using command:

$ sudo pacman -D --asdeps $(pacman -Qe)

This command marks all explicitly installed packages as dependencies. This manipulation changes how packages are considered by the package manager, potentially making them eligible for automatic removal when the packages that depend on them are removed.

Here,

• The asdeps option tells the pacman to install packages non-explicitly. In other words, we fake their install reason to be installed as a dependency.

Next, mark the base system as explicitly installed. Also, mention anything else you don't want to remove in the below command:

$ sudo pacman -S --asexplicit --needed base

Here,

• The asexplicit option tells the pacman to install packages explicitly. In other words, we fake their install reason to be explicitly installed. This is useful if you want to mark a package as explicitly installed so it will not be removed by the --recursive remove operation.

Finally, remove the orphaned packages and their dependencies using the following command:

$ sudo pacman -Rsunc $(pacman -Qtdq)

Please make sure that you have mentioned all packages that you don't want to remove by pacman command.

Now, remove any unwanted configuration files and other files in your $HOME directory. You can also reset all customization and tweaks you made in your system, including the pinned applications in the Dock, desktop panel applets, desktop indicators, your system fonts, GTK themes, Icon themes, monitor resolution, keyboard shortcuts, window button placement, menu and launcher behaviour etc., as described in the following article.

• Reset Linux Desktop To Default Settings With A Single Command

Now, you have a fresh Arch Linux system. Go ahead and start installing any packages you want to test and explore.

For more details, refer pacman manual pages.

$ man pacman

Suggested Read:

• The Easy Way To Install And Remove A Package Group In Arch Linux

And, that's all for now. Hope this helps. More good stuffs to come. Stay tuned!