HowTo: Remove InterWorx-CP from a server

Some data centers bundle InterWorx-CP with their servers and the owner decides to switch to another control panel or no control panel at all. Other times a webmaster installs InterWorx to test on a server but decides not to continue using it. In either eventuality it is generally best to get a distro reinstall on the box. If this is not possible, this document will assist the webmaster in removing InterWorx-CP from the server.

DISCLAIMER:

Removing the InterWorx software DOES NOT guarantee the ability to install an alternative control panel. Please check the documentation of the other panel before attempting to install it.

Purpose

This document will assist the webmaster in removing InterWorx-CP from the server.

Removing InterWorx-CP from a server is a two step process. The first step (1) is to remove the InterWorx core software itself, and the second step (2) is to remove the ancillary RPM‘s.

Before doing this be aware that the iworx system user and all of the other system users (SiteWorx account system users) will be removed along with all of their files. Make sure to BACK UP any files which you wish to save!

If you intend to reinstall the software make sure that you have a copy of the license key. A copy of the key can be found by running

cat /home/interworx/iworx.ini | grep key=

Make sure to write this down in a safe place!

STEP ONE: Removing the InterWorx-CP core software

Removing the InterWorx-CP software itself actually very simple.

Log into the server as or su to root
Run the command yum erase interworx
YUM will ask permission to remove the packages interworx, interworx-siteworx, and interworx-nodeworx

type y for yes and YUM will do the rest.

This command will remove the three core packages which allow InterWorx-CP to function and all users associated with it. It WILL NOT remove all traces of software provided by InterWorx L.L.C. To do that please proceed to step two.

STEP TWO: Removing the Ancillary RPM packages

When InterWorx-CP is installed the installer script installs many RPM packages other than the core software itself that are necessary for InterWorx-CP to run. Some of these are standard packages from the distro’s repository. Others are custom compiled rpm’s compiled specifically to work with InterWorx-CP. These rpm’s are marked with the letters iworx in the name. In most cases it is perfectly safe to leave these packages installed, but some may wish to remove them.

Follow these steps to remove all of the custom compiled RPM‘s:

Log in as or su to root
Run the command rpm -qa | grep iworx (This will generate a long list of RPM‘s with the iworx suffix)
Run the command yum erase <<packagename>> one at a time to remove the packages. When it asks permission to remove dependencies say yes
When yum is erased it will be necessary to switch to the command rpm -e <<packagename>> (or rpm -ef <<packagename>>) until the complete list is gone.
Rerun the command rpm -qa | grep iworx as needed to verify the removal of all packages

Remember, removing the InterWorx software DOES NOT guarantee the ability to install an alternative control panel. Please check the documentation of the other panel before attempting to install it.

You will NOT have a DNS server installed, so you will not be able to do any DNS lookups so YUM, up-to-date, and wget will not function. It will generally be necessary to edit /etc/resolv.conf to provide an external resolver.