Uninstalling Riptides

The Riptides uninstaller removes the daemon, kernel module, and associated systemd services from a Linux host. It supports both a standard removal (configuration and data are preserved) and a full purge that deletes everything.

The installer places the uninstall script at /usr/local/bin/riptides-uninstall.sh, so on any node where Riptides was installed with install.sh you can run it directly:

# Standard removal — config and data directories are kept
sudo riptides-uninstall.sh

# Full purge — also deletes /etc/riptides and /var/lib/riptides
sudo riptides-uninstall.sh --purge

# Skip the confirmation prompt
sudo riptides-uninstall.sh --yes

If the script is not present (for example, it was manually removed or installation was incomplete), you can fetch and run it directly:

curl -fsSL https://docs.riptides.io/uninstall.sh | sudo bash
# with flags:
curl -fsSL https://docs.riptides.io/uninstall.sh | sudo bash -s -- --purge

The script must be run as root.

What Gets Removed

Always removed

Item	Details
systemd services	riptides, riptides-modules, riptides-driver-loader — stopped and disabled
systemd drop-in	/etc/systemd/system/riptides-driver-loader.service.d/
Kernel module	Unloaded with modprobe -r riptides (or rmmod as fallback)
Packages	All riptides* packages via dpkg -r (Debian/Ubuntu) or rpm -e (RHEL/Fedora/Amazon Linux)
Uninstall script	/usr/local/bin/riptides-uninstall.sh

Removed only with --purge

Directory	Contents
/var/lib/riptides	Certificates, private keys, and workload identity state
/etc/riptides	Daemon configuration, identity, service, and credential files

Caution

--purge permanently deletes certificates and keys. The daemon will need to re-attest and obtain new credentials the next time it starts. Do not use --purge on a node you intend to re-enroll without re-provisioning through the control plane.

Options

Flag	Description
--purge	Also remove the data directory and config directory
--data-dir DIR	Override the data directory path (default: /var/lib/riptides)
--config-dir DIR	Override the config directory path (default: /etc/riptides)
--yes, -y	Skip the confirmation prompt
--verbose, -v	Print full output from package manager and systemctl commands
--help, -h	Show usage

Confirmation Prompt

By default the script prints a summary of what will be removed and asks for confirmation:

▶ Riptides Uninstaller

  The following will be removed:

    • riptides systemd services (riptides, riptides-modules, riptides-driver-loader)
    • riptides kernel module
    • riptides packages (daemon + driver)
      daemon version  : v0.5.3
      driver version  : v0.5.3
    • data directory  : /var/lib/riptides  (kept — pass --purge to also remove)
    • config directory: /etc/riptides      (kept — pass --purge to also remove)

  Continue? [y/N]

Pass --yes to skip this prompt in automated or scripted environments.

Kernel Module Caveat

If the kernel module cannot be unloaded (for example because a process still holds an open socket managed by the driver), the script emits a warning and continues:

  ⚠  Kernel module still loaded — reboot may be required

A reboot will fully unload the module. Everything else (packages, services, files) will have been removed by that point.

Manual Uninstall

If you prefer to uninstall without the script, or need to clean up a partial install, follow these steps:

1. Stop and disable services

sudo systemctl stop riptides riptides-modules riptides-driver-loader
sudo systemctl disable riptides riptides-modules riptides-driver-loader

2. Unload the kernel module

sudo modprobe -r riptides
# or, if modprobe is unavailable:
sudo rmmod riptides

3. Remove packages

Debian / Ubuntu:

sudo dpkg -r $(dpkg -l 'riptides*' | awk '/^ii/{print $2}')

RHEL / Fedora / Amazon Linux:

sudo rpm -e $(rpm -qa 'riptides*')

4. Remove leftover files

# systemd drop-in
sudo rm -rf /etc/systemd/system/riptides-driver-loader.service.d
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Uninstall script (if present)
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/riptides-uninstall.sh

# Config and data (--purge equivalent)
sudo rm -rf /etc/riptides
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/riptides