How to cleanly remove Exim4 mail server on Ubuntu

Question

After successfully using Postfix on my Ubuntu machines, I decided to try Exim on a new server, based on some people commenting it's easier to set up and use.

Well I ran into issues with my Rails app right away, and, considering how easy Postfix had been to use, I decided to remove Exim and install Postfix instead.

However, how to cleanly remove it was hard to find...

score 46 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 25 '16 at 15:57

46

Here's all you need to do to cleanly and easily get rid of Exim4:

apt-get remove exim4 exim4-base exim4-config exim4-daemon-light

You may have the exim4 logs directory left behind. Just get rid of it manually, if you do:

rm -r /var/log/exim4/

edited Feb 25 '16 at 15:57

Tombart

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answered Aug 21 '12 at 19:03

yuяi

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apt-get --purge remove if you want to remove the configuration files as well. – InternetSeriousBusiness Aug 21 '12 at 19:25
`rm -r /var/spool/exim4/` ?? <- attention to the interrogant marks, I removed this folder but don't know if it is recommendable – fguillen Aug 27 '13 at 13:08
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`rm /etc/init.d/exim4` ?? – fguillen Aug 27 '13 at 13:17
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Note that order is very important here. If you merely disable exim, install another MTA, then remove exim4... the removal deletes the sendmail link created by your active MTA. – user890155 Nov 01 '15 at 23:20

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '20 at 21:41

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What I would do:

apt-get remove exim4*

answered Jun 08 '20 at 21:41

Gilles Quénot

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How to cleanly remove Exim4 mail server on Ubuntu

2 Answers2