When managing Linux systems, you might notice significant disk space consumption in /usr/lib/modules and /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu. These directories often contain:

• Multiple kernel module versions in /usr/lib/modules
• Architecture-specific shared libraries in /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu

The apt autoremove command handles package dependencies but doesn't automatically clean up:

# Check current space usage
du -h -x --max-depth=1 /usr/lib | sort -hr | head -n 5

Output typically shows:

858M    /usr/lib/modules
823M    /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu

For /usr/lib/modules, follow these steps:

# List installed kernels
dpkg --list | grep linux-image

# Remove old kernels (keep current and one previous)
sudo apt purge linux-image-5.4.0-XX-generic linux-image-5.4.0-YY-generic

# Alternative method using purge-old-kernels
sudo apt install byobu
sudo purge-old-kernels --keep 2

For /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu cleanup:

# Find orphaned libraries
sudo deborphan --guess-all | xargs sudo apt-get -s purge

# Remove configuration files
sudo apt-get purge $(deborphan --find-config)

# Clean up residual packages
sudo apt-get autoremove --purge

For more aggressive cleanup:

# Remove unused locales
sudo apt install localepurge
sudo localepurge

# Clean package cache
sudo apt clean

# Remove old configuration files
sudo dpkg --purge $(dpkg --get-selections | grep deinstall | cut -f1)

After performing these operations, verify the results:

df -h /usr
du -sh /usr/lib/modules /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu

Create a maintenance script:

#!/bin/bash
# System cleanup script
echo "Starting system cleanup..."
sudo apt update
sudo apt -y autoremove --purge
sudo apt clean
sudo purge-old-kernels --keep 2 -y
sudo deborphan --guess-all | xargs sudo apt-get -y purge
echo "Cleanup completed. Current disk usage:"
df -h /usr

Save as cleanup.sh and make executable:

chmod +x cleanup.sh
sudo ./cleanup.sh

After running apt autoremove, you might notice that /usr/lib/modules and /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu still occupy significant disk space. These directories typically contain kernel modules and shared libraries, which can accumulate over time.

First, let's verify which versions are taking up space:

ls -lh /usr/lib/modules
ls -lh /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu | sort -hr | head -n 10

To remove old kernel versions and their modules:

# List installed kernels
dpkg --list | grep linux-image

# Remove specific kernel version (replace x.x.x-x with actual version)
sudo apt purge linux-image-x.x.x-x-generic

# Alternatively, use this to keep only the current and one previous kernel
sudo apt autoremove --purge

For /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu, be more cautious as these are critical system libraries. However, you can:

# Find orphaned libraries
sudo deborphan --libdevel

# Remove configuration files of removed packages
sudo dpkg --purge dpkg --get-selections | grep deinstall | cut -f1

Install additional tools for more thorough cleaning:

sudo apt install debian-goodies
sudo deborphan --guess-all | xargs sudo apt-get remove --purge

Create a cleanup script:

#!/bin/bash
# Remove old kernels
sudo apt autoremove --purge

# Clean orphaned packages
sudo deborphan --guess-all | xargs sudo apt-get remove --purge

# Clean apt cache
sudo apt clean

# Remove old config files
sudo dpkg --purge $(dpkg --get-selections | grep deinstall | cut -f1)

After cleaning, check the space usage again:

du -h -x --max-depth=1 /usr/lib | sort -hr | head -n 5