How to disable APT cache in Debian or Ubuntu

Last updated on June 6, 2020 by Dan Nanni

Question: I do not want to keep downloaded .deb package files after installing them with apt-get or aptitude. How can I disable APT cache to save disk space on my Linux?

When you install a package with apt-get or aptitude on a Debian-based system, the downloaded package is, by default, kept in the APT cache located at /var/cache/apt/archives. This is really not necessary as you typically do not re-install the same package ever again. Over time, the content in /var/cache/apt/archives will grow.

If you want to turn off the APT cache, so that downloaded packages are not kept there, you can create the following file in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d.

$ sudo vi /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/02nocache

Dir::Cache "";
Dir::Cache::archives "";

At this point, apt-get or aptitude will no longer store downloaded .deb files in the APT cache.

You can go head and empty the current APT cache.

$ sudo rm -rf /var/cache/apt/archives

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