sow rm

sow rm removes packages from the selected Dists and rebuilds their local indexes. Use --check to preview the removal, or --skip to postpone the build. Package files remain in pool/ until sow gc can reclaim them.

Synopsis

sow rm PACKAGE... [-c|--check] [--skip] [-j|--jobs N] [-C|--workdir DIR] [-r|--repo NAME] [-d|--dist NAME]... [-T|--timeout DUR | -N|--no-wait] [--json]

Options

--check and --skip are mutually exclusive:

sow rm epel-release -c --skip
usage error: --check and --skip are mutually exclusive

Package references

PACKAGE accepts five forms. The full grammar and disambiguation rules are on Package References; the short version:

A bare name matches every version and architecture of that name in the selected Dists. Other reference forms must identify one object. An ambiguous reference returns an error with the matching candidates.

sow ls prints exact sha256: references and canonical coordinates, so you never have to assemble one by hand.

If no package matches a reference, the command returns an error:

sow rm nosuch -r pigsty -d el9
operation rejected: managed: operation rejected: package reference not found: package reference "nosuch" matches no Desired Membership

Default behavior: remove and rebuild

Without --check or --skip, rm commits the Desired change and rebuilds every affected Dist before returning. Pool objects stay on disk.

sow rm 'rpm:centos-release-0:6-0.el6.centos.5.x86_64' -r demo -d el9
removed repository=demo operation=2283442100870457321 dists=el9 memberships=1 revision=2 generation=00000000000000000003 dirty=false changes=8
membership dist=el9 name="centos-release" coordinate="rpm:centos-release-0:6-0.el6.centos.5.x86_64" sha256:ffd9e7bdaa4884831a6c055ada01dac96b84c50a8d518dac409b445af5dadc16

The summary is followed by one change line per affected file (eight in this run). Add --json to receive the same result as a stable standard envelope.

Removing the last member of a Dist is fine. SOW still renders a valid, signed-if-configured empty index — an empty Packages with a verifiable InRelease, or empty per-architecture repodata/.

Preview with –check

-c/--check previews the removal and resulting local file changes without modifying the Repository. removed lists memberships matched by your references. If the current policy removes additional members, their index changes appear in changes; their membership count appears in sow log after the removal runs.

sow rm centos-release -r demo -d el9 -c
preview repository=demo operation= dists=el9 memberships=2 revision=2 generation=00000000000000000003 dirty=false changes=2
membership dist=el9 name="centos-release" coordinate="rpm:centos-release-0:6-0.el6.centos.5.x86_64" sha256:ffd9e7bdaa4884831a6c055ada01dac96b84c50a8d518dac409b445af5dadc16
membership dist=el9 name="centos-release" coordinate="rpm:centos-release-0:7-2.1511.el7.centos.2.10.x86_64" sha256:b4111ef2a51542eacc9bd1ebd080da02e53d400f9d172530c75a1e4ac06e7ead
change op=update phase=pointer path="dists/el9/aarch64/repodata/repomd.xml" size=1509 sha256:1cfe38698967d11384f1a985618d75f5e690d1284accf951262fc663fa9afc81
change op=update phase=pointer path="dists/el9/x86_64/repodata/repomd.xml" size=1509 sha256:1cfe38698967d11384f1a985618d75f5e690d1284accf951262fc663fa9afc81

Both centos-release versions matched the bare name. The change lines describe the expected local file changes in payload → metadata → pointer → delete order. Use --json to read the removed[] and changes[] arrays in a script.

Preview validates the candidate configuration and existing state. It uses shared locks and can wait for a writer, but does not accept --timeout or --no-wait:

sow rm centos-release -r pigsty -d el9 -c -T 5s
usage error: rm --check does not accept --timeout or --no-wait

–skip

--skip commits the Desired change and leaves the public tree unchanged. The Repository is dirty if the resulting Desired state differs from Built state. Removing a pending-only addition can return it to clean without a build.

sow rm 'rpm:centos-release-0:7-2.1511.el7.centos.2.10.x86_64' --skip -r demo -d el9
removed repository=demo operation=314678479940914827 dists=el9 memberships=1 revision=4 generation=00000000000000000004 dirty=true changes=0
membership dist=el9 name="centos-release" coordinate="rpm:centos-release-0:7-2.1511.el7.centos.2.10.x86_64" sha256:b4111ef2a51542eacc9bd1ebd080da02e53d400f9d172530c75a1e4ac06e7ead

sow status -r pigsty
repository=pigsty status=dirty ready_to_copy=false revision=6 generation=5 dirty_dists=el9 pending=0/0 locked=false

changes is empty because nothing was built. Run sow build to build the pending changes.

Policy interaction

After removal, SOW applies policy to the remaining members. If you remove libpq5 18.3-1 from a limit: 1 Dist, the previously excluded 18.2-1 stays excluded. Run sow add to restore it.

Examples

Preview a removal, then apply it:

sow rm patroni -r pgsql -d el9 -c
sow rm patroni -r pgsql -d el9

Remove one exact object from two Dists with one command:

sow rm sha256:d6f332ed157de1d42058ec785b392a1cc4b5836c27830af8fbf083cce29ef0ab -r pgsql -d el9 -d el9-beta

Batch several removals, then rebuild once:

sow rm old-tool legacy-agent -r pgsql -d el9 --skip
sow build -r pgsql -d el9
sow check -r pgsql

Feed the preview plan to another tool:

sow rm patroni -r pgsql -d el9 -c --json | jq -r '.result.changes[] | "\(.phase)\t\(.op)\t\(.path)"'

Exit codes

See also

• Package References — the full reference grammar
• sow ls, show, and where — finding the exact reference to remove
• sow add — the inverse operation
• sow build — build after --skip
• Membership Policy — why removed members do not come back
• sow retain and sow gc — when bytes can be reclaimed