# Remove orphans

**URL:** <https://forums.suse.com/t/remove-orphans/27550>\
**Category:** SLES Updates\
**Created:** [October 22, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/remove-orphans/27550 "2015-10-22T13:26:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![christer\_solskogen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@christer\_solskogen](https://forums.suse.com/u/christer_solskogen)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/remove-orphans/27550/1 "2015-10-22T13:26:35Z")

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Hi!

We’ve upgraded some SLES servers from 9.x to 10.x and over to 11.x. And I suspect that there is a lot of orphan packages laying around.  
I know that with SLES 12 there’s a option in zypper for it. Does something like that exist in SLES 11?  
And by orphan, I mean packages installed that are not in any of the current repositories. Packages that existed in 9 does not always exist in 11.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/remove-orphans/27550/2 "2015-10-22T17:50:25Z")

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Am 2015-10-22 um 12:34 schrieb christer solskogen:[color=blue]

> Hi!
> 
> We’ve upgraded some SLES servers from 9.x to 10.x and over to 11.x. And  
> I suspect that there is a lot of orphan packages laying around.  
> I know that with SLES 12 there’s a option in zypper for it. Does  
> something like that exist in SLES 11?  
> And by orphan, I mean packages installed that are not in any of the  
> current repositories. Packages that existed in 9 does not always exist  
> in 11.[/color]

Hello Christer,

try

zypper se -s | grep “System Pa”

to get an overview.

Franz.

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**Author:** ![christer\_solskogen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@christer\_solskogen](https://forums.suse.com/u/christer_solskogen)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/remove-orphans/27550/3 "2015-10-27T20:08:17Z")

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What am I looking for? I get a bunch of packages with that command, like the kernel.

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**Author:** ![smflood](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/smflood/32/10576_2.png) [@smflood](https://forums.suse.com/u/smflood)\
**Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/remove-orphans/27550/4 "2015-10-28T15:39:55Z")

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On 27/10/2015 18:14, christer solskogen wrote:  
[color=blue]

> What am I looking for? I get a bunch of packages with that command, like  
> the kernel.[/color]

If the last column of the output contains “(System Package)” (might be  
plural) then that indicates the package was not installed from a  
currently configured repository suggesting it has come from elsewhere.

Perhaps you could post the output here.

## HTH.

Simon  
SUSE Knowledge Partner

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