Volta: Document Method to Uninstall Volta

[chsi022]

On a Unix system, I have installed Volta via "curl https://get.volta.sh | bash" , how do I then remove Volta from the system?

[charlespierce]

Hi @chsi022, to uninstall Volta after using the default installer, you would need to do two things:

1. Remove the ~/.volta directory
2. Edit your shell profile file (~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile, ~/.profile or similar) to remove the 3 lines that reference VOLTA_HOME

I'm going to rename this issue to note that we should document that process.

[chsi022]

Thank you! I'll keep these in mind if I need to remove Volta from the system. I'll keep the issue open since you have now renamed the issue.

[wpscholar]

The steps above didn't entirely work. Now I get -bash: ~/.volta/bin/node: No such file or directory when I run node -v.

[wpscholar]

Ideally, there should be an uninstall script.

[charlespierce]

@wpscholar Did you, by chance, open a new terminal after making the above changes? bash hashes and keeps the location of any command you run, which persists until you open a new terminal.

It appears you can also remove the hash for a command (like node), by running hash -d node

Agreed we should have some sort of script / command for a full uninstall, we mostly need to figure out the best way to deliver that and make it available, as well as handle as many OS / shell combinations as possible.

[wpscholar]

@charlespierce You are correct. Opening a new terminal window made that last issue go away.

[detj]

Would like to point out that I see an uninstall sub-command when running volta help, but don't see any corresponding help in the official documentation about how this command is supposed to be used.

$ volta help
Volta 0.8.1
The JavaScript Launcher ⚡

    To install a tool in your toolchain, use `volta install`.
    To pin your project's runtime or package manager, use `volta pin`.

USAGE:
    volta [FLAGS] [SUBCOMMAND]

FLAGS:
        --verbose    Enables verbose diagnostics
        --quiet      Prevents unnecessary output
    -v, --version    Prints the current version of Volta
    -h, --help       Prints help information

SUBCOMMANDS:
    fetch          Fetches a tool to the local machine
    install        Installs a tool in your toolchain
    uninstall      Uninstalls a tool from your toolchain
    pin            Pins your project's runtime or package manager
    list           Displays the current toolchain
    completions    Generates Volta completions
    which          Locates the actual binary that will be called by Volta
    setup          Enables Volta for the current user / shell
    run            Run a command with custom Node, npm, and/or Yarn versions
    help           Prints this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

https://docs.volta.sh/reference/

[charlespierce]

@detj That's a good callout, I'll update the online docs - volta uninstall is for uninstalling global binaries that were installed with volta install 😃

[charlespierce]

Fixed in volta-cli/website#82 and volta-cli/website#83