Can we clean yum cache files manually?

Question

I am using Redhat 7 while running yum update I am getting Bus error (core dumped) error.
After troubleshooting I found that / was full because of /var/cache/yum/x86_64/7server/rhel-x86_64-server-7/gen folder.
Inside this folder below files contains GB of data.

I tried yum clean all command to clean up the space but it is not working.
Can I manually delete these files?
Manual delete will cause any problem to yum ?

harrymc · Accepted Answer

After successful installation, packages should be deleted from the yum cache.
You should check in the file /etc/yum.conf, whether the keepcache setting
is 1 instead of 0.
The RedHat post
Maybe you want: rm -rf /var/cache/yum 
says that
the command yum clean all gives the impression that enabled and disabled/removed
repos are cleaned but in reality, performs only these tasks:

clean all cache from enabled repos
remove all data from unknown repos
preserve cache of disabled/removed repos

The fix in
RHBA-2017:2295
should have added a reminder for this command saying:

Maybe you want: rm -rf /var/cache/yum, to also free up space taken by orphaned data from disabled or removed repos

In any case, whatever your situation, you can issue the recommended command:
rm -rf /var/cache/yum

Danila Vershinin · Answer

Manual deletion is quite safe and will not cause problems with yum. This is fine:
rm -rf /var/cache/yum

You can also check this post on other steps that may help in clearing disk space.

Can we clean yum cache files manually?

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