Ubuntu 16.04 LTS fully updated , Unity desktop. I have asked this question before here, have done a search here and have read a bit on Snapd but my question remains- Using Gnome disk utility I find 4 virtual disks- they are called "loop devices"..... They are /var/lib/snapd/snaps/ubuntu-core_352.snap 78 MB /var/lib/snapd/snaps/ubuntu-core_216.snap 76 MB /var/lib/snapd/snaps/ubuntu-core_423.snap 79 MB /var/lib/snapd/snaps/alsa-utils_1.snap 4.6 MB This may be a dumb question but I ve not been able to find why these loop devices exist. I use Synaptic package manager or apt to do all updates on this machine. I have never used Snapd. Anyone else have these, why are they there if one doesnt use Snapd. Can they be deleted without fear of Armageddon? While I am not out of disk space , I dont think its good system administration to have something appear as a loop device without knowing what and why and/or simply ignore it. Regards Expat
I have the same questions since I see that the results from a df command reflects this new technology. I perused around but cannot find anything definitive as to what they provide, why they have been introduced, and what the user needs to know about snaps and loops. Pardon my ignorance. $ df Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on udev 1912876 0 1912876 0% /dev tmpfs 386608 6624 379984 2% /run /dev/sda5 273057176 65856948 193306660 26% / tmpfs 1933024 416 1932608 1% /dev/shm tmpfs 5120 4 5116 1% /run/lock tmpfs 1933024 0 1933024 0% /sys/fs/cgroup tmpfs 1933024 688 1932336 1% /var/log /dev/loop0 117888 117888 0 100% /snap/vlc/4 tmpfs 1933024 0 1933024 0% /var/tmp tmpfs 524288 1212 523076 1% /tmp tmpfs 1933024 0 1933024 0% /var/log/apt /dev/loop3 77952 77952 0 100% /snap/core/1240 /dev/loop2 77952 77952 0 100% /snap/core/1222 cgmfs 100 0 100 0% /run/cgmanager/fs tmpfs 386608 76 386532 1% /run/user/1000 /dev/loop4 77952 77952 0 100% /snap/core/1264
jpvrlau Hi. Dont feel bad about asking. I asked on Sept. 22 2016. System this is running on is a production system with limited disk space , I have about 338 GB free out of a terrabyte. I sat around waiting for some of the experts to reply and either they dont know or they dont care. Finally I used Synaptic package manager to delete Snapd. I caution you about doing something such as a remove or complete remove unless you are willing to risk either a lot of work to get the system stable again or reload it. In my case, since i have been running various distros of both Unix and Linux for a desktop for 30 years (yes AT&T Unix Berkley distro did crude windowing on a workstation with a Motorola 68000 series CPU--my first windowing computer) I will sometimes break things and then manage to fix them. You can remove Snapd, the snapd login service, and libsnapd-glib1. As I recall (since it was probably Sept. 24th and I did NOT enter it in the system log, but it probably is in the Synaptic log.....) it was a clean remove and freed up some disk space, got rid of the loops on the HD. If you have Synaptic, remove everything snapd. If you do not have synaptic then sudo apt-get update and sudo apt install Synaptic should get you the package manager. I use either Aptitude, apt or Synaptic on my system to make sure dependencies are handled. Aptitude is the most through but can cause problems because it is aggressive, apt is better from the terminal and Synaptic works well since it has a nice GUI front end. Hope all of this helps. I am happy to address your question. I dont know how good my advice is, use at your own risk. I am going to comment on this forum at this juncture. We in the Open Source community hope that eventually more people will start to use Ubuntu and other distros for desktop, an area Microsoft dominates. One problem with this is the OS must be usable by some people who have a problem using a refrigerator or a toaster. While arguably we are still a bit away from that, it is damaging when someone comes to supposedly the authority forum with all of the experts, asks about a latest and greatest improvement in the distro--snapd- and gets ignored for lets see, since September 22nd. It does not help our Open Source cause at all. Just do NOT ask about systemd. Ever. Regards from Ecuador Expat
OK. Here is the Synaptic log from Sept 24th 2016 Commit Log for Sat Sep 24 17:50:33 2016 Removed the following packages: snap-confine snapd ubuntu-core-launcher ------------------------------------------------------------------ I seem to recall having seen snapd in the daily updates for Synaptic recently and yes here it is Commit Log for Sun Feb 19 11:42:31 2017 Upgraded the following packages: snap-confine (2.22.2) to 2.22.3 snapd (2.22.2) to 2.22.3 ubuntu-core-launcher (2.22.2) to 2.22.3 ------------------------------------------------------------------- So here is today just after posting my reply to you Commit Log for Tue Feb 21 14:16:58 2017 Removed the following packages: libsnapd-glib1 snapd snapd-login-service Upgraded the following packages: tcpdump (4.7.4-1ubuntu1) to 4.9.0-1ubuntu1~ubuntu16.04.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the handy things about Synaptic is that if you can boot and Synaptic will run (provided something has not shredded dpkg) it is an easy way to see what you did when. Since this is a production system though, I keep a separate system log. Now. Question is why did snapd reinstall an updated package if I ripped snapd out by the roots, yes? Back on September 24th of 2016? OK. Since right now I am lazy, I decided to find if there was any further snapd lurking after my second unisntall. So I opened a terminal and ran sudo Nautilus and when the file manager opened, I searched for snapd. I found several folders and a bunch of files, highlighted them all and deleted then (OH!!! GOD!!!! THE HORROR!!!!). I dont recommend this particularly since I dont have any idea of your skill level and determination. Remember the enter key is the most dangerous key on the keyboard. However after removing all of this gradu, I rebooted the machine...... I shut down and boot in verbose mode to try to read the rapid text that flashes by and spot problems. Clean reboot. So far operating normally. I do NOT recommend that you do the rip-it-out-by-the-roots removal that I did but.....on tis system it worked and hopefully I wont be bothered by snapd again. Regards Expat
If I may ask, did you not install the Ubuntu snapd service in the first place? I am thinking these start appearing after you, I and others like us installed it...
That is correct. I did install it as part of a package, nothing that I specifically singled out and no one said anything about snapd creating what to me look like virtual drives on my hard drive without asking. Yes I agreed to the potential use of disk space in installing the package in the first place but the idea of virtual drives being created without consent, no! The same way that there are various processess that look at (at least on TWO machines with 16LTS that I had) the contents of the hard drive for Ubuntu store. Run iotop if you notice lots of disk activity at startup and trace the daemons, I think they are called tracers scanning the disk. My investigation revealed they were child processes of Ubuntu Store. This is why I nuked and paved the Ubuntu drive and installed another distro. BECAUSE no one said anything about either the loop drives, the tracers, the emerging picture of Canonical seemingly trying to get into content providing and the loss of control and privacy that can engender in an operating environment (same type of crap caused me to leave the OSX development community a number of years back). Apparently no one in this community was willing to talk about what looped drives meant (or simply did not know but I have trouble believing that)and what created them. Look at the date of my initial post and the time involved with no replies...... I am forced to use Windows 10 on the same machine dual boot for work but my digital life is open Source. I absolutely have no tolerance for being burdened with software and processes that modify the system without the modifications being evident and without me at least being informed or ASKED beforehand. I know this is probably being whiney and nit picking but Windows does this as a matter of course on the way to the lease model of operating systems- I have wire sharked Windows and have seen the telemetry that goes back home. Around the time I made my decision to leave Ubuntu for another distro someone pointed me to Richard Stallman's article about how Ubuntu purportedly collects search terms and sends them to Canonical. I did not wireshark Ubuntu to verify this but it cast further doubts on the veracity (for me at least) of continuing to care and feed an OS that called home. I spend a lot of machine time every day and do NOT have the time or inclination to parse code for snooping. Intent is almost always indicated by changes and modifications especially in software. Last time I looked this was my machine and with that precept I have the right and ultimate say on what is done with it. With Windows 10 its a constant battle. Not one I am willing to fight with an OpenSource distro that installs crap I dont want, need or approve of. Too much like the Redmond crew. So if they are putting virtual drives on my Hd without my approval, indexing the drive at startup for Ubuntu store, and supposedly sending search terms home to Canonical all without asking if any of it is OK.......then what else is being done without the user being informed. No more.
Last edited by oldos2er; May 10th, 2017 at 12:29 AM. Reason: Corrected misspellings.
https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/...any-for-an-ipo in case there was doubt. So in the effort to get all aspects profitable for an IPO, the invasiveness of the Ubuntu Store daemons, search term collection and snapd (which incidentally must be installed for the Ubuntu store to function). And some months later, this story. Lets see how the profitability model works for Ubuntu users concerned with privacy going forward.
I see that you did not bump your posts and simply let them sink to the bottom of the sea. People will hardly go diving that deep to find buried treasure. If you did not bump your thread after 12 hours with no response, it is not the fault of the community that you got no answer. This is a world-wide volunteer community of people with real lives who come here as they have time. That you got no answer is in no way indicative of any lack of knowledge or desire to assist you. It is simply an indication that the right people with the right answers did not see it in the brief moments it was at the top of the pile. As a matter of fact, some very lively discussion has taken place in the development sub-forum with regard to snaps, snapd and the loop devices. Don't ask about systemd? Apparently you have missed the discussions about that, too. Some of them not so happy. There is no need for the drama. The sky is not falling. We went through the FUD with the shopping lens and Canonical did not become Big Brother. Take a breath and tone it down, please.
Last edited by QIII; May 9th, 2017 at 09:12 PM.
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