How to Remove Pterodactyl and Wings from a VPS

Managing a VPS with Pterodactyl and Wings can sometimes lead to complex scenarios where a full removal or reinstallation is necessary. If you’ve encountered errors or issues such as port binding failures or container crashes and decided to clean your VPS, this guide will walk you through the process of removing Pterodactyl and Wings completely.

Common Issues That Lead to Removal:

1. Port Binding Failures: The “Error starting userland proxy” issue is one of the most common problems with Docker on a VPS. It occurs when the system cannot bind a port due to conflicts, resulting in containers not starting.
2. Insufficient Memory: Daemon errors like Out of memory: false often indicate resource shortages, causing crashes that make server management difficult.
3. Configuration Conflicts: Misconfigured database settings or mismanagement of system users can cause consistent panel and daemon issues, requiring a fresh start.

Step-by-Step Guide to Remove Pterodactyl and Wings

1. Stop Running Services

Before proceeding, stop the Pterodactyl and Wings services to ensure no processes are active during removal.

bashCopy codesudo systemctl stop wings
sudo systemctl stop pterodactyl

2. Remove Pterodactyl and Wings

First, remove the Pterodactyl and Wings installation directories:

bashCopy codesudo rm -rf /etc/pterodactyl
sudo rm -rf /var/www/pterodactyl

3. Remove Docker Containers

Next, remove all Docker containers and images related to Pterodactyl. This helps free up system resources:

bashCopy codedocker rm $(docker ps -a -q)
docker rmi $(docker images -q)

4. Remove the MySQL Database

If you used MySQL for Pterodactyl, you need to delete the database associated with the panel:

sqlCopy codeDROP DATABASE pterodactyl;
DROP USER 'pterodactyl'@'localhost';

5. Remove System Users and Crons

Remove the user account created for Pterodactyl and associated cron jobs:

bashCopy codesudo deluser pterodactyl
sudo crontab -u pterodactyl -r

6. Clean Up Configuration Files

Lastly, clean up any residual configuration files that may remain:

bashCopy codesudo rm /etc/systemd/system/wings.service
sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/pterodactyl.service

7. Restart the Server

After the removal, restart your server to ensure all changes are applied.

bashCopy codesudo reboot

Conclusion

Removing Pterodactyl and Wings from your VPS helps in clearing persistent issues and prepares the server for a clean installation or an alternative setup. By following the steps outlined, you ensure that all components are properly cleaned out. If you plan to reinstall, make sure to troubleshoot the previous errors to avoid recurrence.