How to list and remove PPA repository on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver Linux

Objective

The objective is to show how to list and remove PPA repository on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

Operating System and Software Versions

  • Operating System: – Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

Requirements

Privileged access to your Ubuntu System as root or via sudo command is required.

Conventions

  • # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
  • $ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

Other Versions of this Tutorial

Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa)

Instructions

List/Remove PPA using command line

List PPA Repositories

Let’s start by listing all available repositories on the Ubuntu 18.04 system with apt policy command:

$ apt policy                                                                                                                                                         
Package files:
 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     release a=now
 500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/java/ubuntu bionic/main i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=LP-PPA-webupd8team-java,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Oracle Java (JDK) 8 / 9 Installer PPA,c=main,b=i386
     origin ppa.launchpad.net
 500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/java/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=LP-PPA-webupd8team-java,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Oracle Java (JDK) 8 / 9 Installer PPA,c=main,b=amd64
     origin ppa.launchpad.net
 500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/videolan/master-daily/ubuntu bionic/main i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=LP-PPA-videolan-master-daily,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=VLC Daily Build of master branch,c=main,b=i386
     origin ppa.launchpad.net
 500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/videolan/master-daily/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=LP-PPA-videolan-master-daily,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=VLC Daily Build of master branch,c=main,b=amd64
     origin ppa.launchpad.net
 500 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/multiverse i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse,b=i386
     origin au.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/multiverse amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=multiverse,b=amd64
     origin au.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/universe i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe,b=i386
     origin au.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/universe amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=universe,b=amd64
     origin au.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/restricted i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted,b=i386
     origin au.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/restricted amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=restricted,b=amd64
     origin au.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main i386 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=main,b=i386
     origin au.archive.ubuntu.com
 500 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages
     release v=18.04,o=Ubuntu,a=bionic,n=bionic,l=Ubuntu,c=main,b=amd64
     origin au.archive.ubuntu.com


Remove PPA with add-apt-repository

The recommended way to remove PPA on Ubuntu 18.04 is by use of add-apt-repository command. Here is a simple add-apt-repository command syntax:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:PPA_REPOSITORY_NAME/PPA

Using the above add-apt-repository command syntax and the repository list, the following example will remove videolan PPA:

$ sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:videolan/master-daily

List/Remove PPA using GUI

If you have Graphical User Interface (GUI) available on your Ubuntu 18.04 system you can list and remove PPA using Software & Updates application. Start Software & Updates application, navigate to Other Software tab and Remove any highlighted PPA repositories:

remove ppa on ubuntu 18.04 using gui

remove ppa on ubuntu 18.04 - highlight to remove PPA