# Can't uninstall flox-prerelease

**URL:** <https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [January 11, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611 "2023-01-11T15:31:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![etorreborre](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/etorreborre/32/428_2.png) [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/1 "2023-01-11T15:31:15Z")

</div>

Hi,

I currently cannot uninstall a prerelease version in an environment:

```auto
± flox --version Version: 0.0.8-r113

± flox list -e default default etorreborre/scala etorreborre/default
etorreborre/default
    Alias default
    System x86_64-darwin
    Path /Users/etorreborre/.local/share/flox/environments/etorreborre/default
    Curr Gen 117

Packages
    0 stable.etorreborre.cheat-sh
    1 stable.etorreborre.cmt
    2 unstable.flox.flox-prerelease
    3 stable.nixpkgs-flox.bat
    4 stable.nixpkgs-flox.curl
    5 stable.nixpkgs-flox.direnv
    ... etc

± flox rm 2 -e default warning: ignoring untrusted substituter 'https://cache.floxdev.com'
warning: ignoring untrusted substituter 'https://cache.floxdev.com'
No environment changes detected .. exiting

± flox list -e default default etorreborre/scala etorreborre/default
etorreborre/default
    Alias default
    System x86_64-darwin
    Path /Users/etorreborre/.local/share/flox/environments/etorreborre/default
    Curr Gen 117

Packages
    0 stable.etorreborre.cheat-sh
    1 stable.etorreborre.cmt
    2 unstable.flox.flox-prerelease
    3 stable.nixpkgs-flox.bat
    4 stable.nixpkgs-flox.curl
    5 stable.nixpkgs-flox.direnv
    ... etc 

```

And if I try an upgrade I get

```auto
± flox upgrade -e default warning: ignoring untrusted substituter 'https://cache.floxdev.com'
warning: ignoring untrusted substituter 'https://cache.floxdev.com'
error: path '/nix/store/clhs1awgifyyzcd75f29r3i55ah89x7v-flox-prerelease-0.1.0-r260-0.0.8-r124' does not exist and cannot be created

```

I wonder if I should nuke everything and start anew since I have been going through some major flox changes.

BTW I actually wanted to remove the unstable version because of this issue

```auto
○ flox --version Version: 0.1.0-r254-0.0.8-r123

○ flox list -e default ERROR: Unable to open bash flox meta

```

What do you think?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jurraca](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/jurraca/32/397_2.png) [@jurraca](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/jurraca)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/2 "2023-01-11T16:01:30Z")

</div>

Hey Eric, thanks for reporting this. Which flox version are you on here?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![etorreborre](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/etorreborre/32/428_2.png) [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/3 "2023-01-11T16:16:50Z")

</div>

There 's a bug in Discourse… The version numbers are in the markdown but not the rendered text.

The first version is `Version: 0.0.8-r113`  
The second one is `Version: 0.1.0-r254-0.0.8-r123`

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tomberek](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/tomberek/32/83_2.png) [@tomberek](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/tomberek)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/4 "2023-01-11T17:20:07Z")

</div>

> [@etorreborre](#):
>
> `warning: ignoring untrusted substituter 'https://cache.floxdev.com'`

This warning is the key. Newer versions of flox are using signed builds and distribution, but those settings don’t change very easily (this is on purpose, as they are the responsibility of the installer).

Please update flox via ([https://beta.floxdev.com/docs/managing-flox/user\_update/](https://beta.floxdev.com/docs/managing-flox/user_update/)) which should update your daemon with the new settings.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![etorreborre](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/etorreborre/32/428_2.png) [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/5 "2023-01-11T18:07:55Z")

</div>

I did a re-install via the mac installer and I still cannot remove the `flox-prerelease` package from my default environment

```auto
○ /usr/local/bin/flox rm unstable.flox.flox-prerelease -e default No environment changes detected .. exiting

```

I am using

```auto
○ ll /usr/local/bin/flox default
Permissions Size User Date Modified Name
lrwxr-xr-x 68 root 11 Jan 18:37 /usr/local/bin/flox -> /nix/store/5vl52602dznla4pif0adr4v1wi3b8s36-flox-0.0.8-r123/bin/flox*

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![etorreborre](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/etorreborre/32/428_2.png) [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/6 "2023-01-11T18:10:12Z")

</div>

I forgot to mention that `flox upgrade -e default` worked ok without warning.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![robinbrantley](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/robinbrantley/32/39_2.png) [@robinbrantley](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/robinbrantley)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/7 "2023-01-11T19:02:12Z")

</div>

Hi @etorreborre. Just to confirm, with flox upgrade -e default working for you, did that get you out of the loop you were in?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![etorreborre](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/etorreborre/32/428_2.png) [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/8 "2023-01-11T22:42:45Z")

</div>

Hi Robin. No I still have the same issue and I can’t remove `flox-prerelease` from my default environment.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![robinbrantley](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/robinbrantley/32/39_2.png) [@robinbrantley](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/robinbrantley)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/9 "2023-01-11T23:19:57Z")

</div>

Thanks for clarifying; I’m asking Michael to look into it 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![limeytexan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/limeytexan/32/10_2.png) [@limeytexan](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/limeytexan)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/10 "2023-01-11T23:32:00Z")

</div>

Hi Eric. You asked if it would make sense to start over with your default environment and I would say yes, it would be good to clear out the old format metadata. Let’s start by doing that:

```auto
flox push # to make sure you have a backup
flox export > /tmp/default.tar
flox destroy
flox import < /tmp/default.tar
flox edit # remove mention of prerelease 
flox push —force # to remove old history upstream

```

That should do it - if any of those steps don’t work please can you repeat with `—debug` and send the output?

On the topic of prerelease, I suggest you switch to using the flox-managed `flox/prerelease` environment going forward. Not only does it provide you with the latest flox but will soon also provide the necessary magic to enable flox command line completion. Good stuff. 👍

(More background info on our plans for flox-managed environments is available [here](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/am-i-holding-flox-develop-wrong/599/4).)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![etorreborre](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/etorreborre/32/428_2.png) [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/11 "2023-01-12T12:36:44Z")

</div>

I’m back on track, thanks!

```auto
○ flox --version Version: 0.1.0-r264-0.0.8-r131

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![robinbrantley](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.flox.dev/robinbrantley/32/39_2.png) [@robinbrantley](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/robinbrantley)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 1:00pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-uninstall-flox-prerelease/611/12 "2023-01-12T13:00:11Z")

</div>

great news! Thanks for confirming! 🙂