Methods to save space on your '/root' partition while using flatpak

[aiamuzz]

Information

Flatpak installs at the default location /var/lib/flatpak. So all applications get installed inside this flatpak folder(runtimes/platform/applications ... everything in this folder) eating away at the /root partition.

Method 1 : uses a simple hack making use of linux feature of symbolic links.
Method 2 : uses the official flatpak feature to install applications at custom locations/paths.

Method 1 : Unofficial 'HACK' method (this method makes sense ONLY if you have a separate partition for /home ... if /root & /home are on the same partition its useless to try this method)

Lets say your home is located at /home/user ... ('user' could be the name of your user and the same needs to be replaced with the actual user name on your system in place of user wherever found in the below commands)

sudo mv /var/lib/flatpak /home/user
cd /var/lib
sudo ln -s /home/user/flatpak flatpak

that's it !!! ... .... with the symbolic link at /var/lib ... all your flatpak applications will get routed and installed in your /home partition keeping the /root partition free.

Method 2 : Official feature of installing it in a custom location of your choice by creating extra.conf file

Its best(not mandatory) if the following conditions are adhered to ...

• Its is best to have a separate partition on your internal hard disk(preferable) dedicated to installing flatpak applications.
• It is best to configure you linux OS to auto mount partition on boot ...
• Its is best to let the partitions mount at their default locations ... some OSes mount it in /media/user and some mount it in /mnt
• It is best to name/label the partition

The following commands are written assuming the default location being /media/user and partitions get auto mounted at this location ... make changes according to your own systems. ... i have a separate partition labeled it as Flatpak(name of the partition not the folder).

sudo mkdir /media/muz/Flatpak/flatpak
sudo mkdir /etc/flatpak
sudo mkdir /etc/flatpak/installations.d

sudo gedit /etc/flatpak/installations.d/extra.conf

Lets name this custom install location ...
Lets say i name it myFlatpaks ... you can use your own names instead, just make sure the name 'myFlatpaks' with your name in the commands/entries below.

Paste the following block in the extra.conf file and save it ...

[Installation "myFlatpaks"]
Path=/media/muz/Flatpak/flatpak/
DisplayName=myFlatpaks Installation
StorageType=harddisk

Now lets add the flathub remote to this custom install location ...

flatpak --installation=myFlatpaks remote-add flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Thats It !!!

Advantages of using a Separate partition dedicated ONLY for flatpak applications.

• In cases where the OS is reinstalled from scratch which involves formatting /root and /home partition. (Tested and Works)
• In cases where you are switching from one linux distro to another.(not yet tested as such a situation hasn't been encountered by me).

I like to call this setup of using a dedicated partition as 'INSTALL ONLY ONCE' setup !!!

Commands to manage applications at this newly created custom install location.

Install
flatpak --installation=myFlatpaks install flathub org.application.name

Uninstall
flatpak --installation=myFlatpaks uninstall flathub org.application.name

List
flatpak list - to list all applications
flatpak --installation=myFlatpaks list - to list applications only from a specific installation location.

Run
flatpak run flathub org.application.name

[harishb94]

Nicely done !!

[matthiasclasen]

Why not just use --user to install in your home directory ?

[mwleeds]

I don't think this belongs as a GitHub issue. If you want to improve the documentation around this feel free to submit a PR, but I don't think the symlink hack should go in the documentation.

[aiamuzz]

I don't think this belongs as a GitHub issue.

I know ... the right place would be a forum ... but as you know we do not have any dedicated forum for flatpak i raised the thread here ... @mwleeds ... if you kept this open then people could benefit from the information.

:) symlink ? ... i know ... that is why i have mentioned it as 'Unofficial Hack'

[aiamuzz]

Why not just use --user to install in your home directory ?

@matthiasclasen ...

I agree ... this option could easily replace the symlink method ... i did it because my Deepin OS has flatpak and their inhouse flatpak apps preinstalled out of the box ... and when i started liking flatpak i found the default location was already heavy by about 3-4 GB ... so to save that space i ended up with the 'symlink' method.

a few days ago when i did a fresh install of my OS ... i uninstalled flatpak and pre-installed apps from Deepin ... did a clean install of flatpak from debian 'deb' package ... I discovered that the default location did not take up any space at all !!!

So i agree to your suggestion that --user option could replace the 'symlink' hack without breaking a sweat ...

only ... every time one has to enter the option --user ... i know i have to do a longer version of it to install(which i am doing currently) to my custom location with the option --installation= ... honestly both make for extra effort ... having to type extra parameters ...

I was wondering ...

Would it be too difficult to create an option where we could set either --user , --installation= or the default place in /var as our preferred place of installation ? ... i guess if a --system option was created

1. --system (/var/lib/flatpak)
2. --user (/home/user/flatpak)
3. --installation - * (i would certainly make this as my default)

then the user could choose one of the above, to be their preferred location of installations ... and get away with the short and sweet direct install command with no parameters at all

If yes than i will start a new issue thread as a 'Feature Request : to set default install location of choice' so you can add it to your todo list ...

[mwleeds]

as you know we do not have any dedicated forum for flatpak i raised the thread here

There's https://www.reddit.com/r/flatpak

Would it be too difficult to create an option where we could set either --user , --installation= or the default place in /var as our preferred place of installation ?

Another way to accomplish what you want would be for the install command to search all installations, not just system and user, for existing remotes. So that way if you want to only use a custom installation you can have that be the only installation with remotes configured. And as is already the case if you want to only use --user you can have that be the only installation with remotes configured.

On the other hand that scheme is complicated a bit by the fact that GNOME Builder configures remotes in your user installation for you, but maybe that should be considered a Builder bug (cc: @chergert).

[refi64]

as you know we do not have any dedicated forum for flatpak i raised the thread here

There's also the mailing list.

[aiamuzz]

@mwleeds ... hmmmmm ... not sure i comprehend what you just said ...

What i meant was ... if there was a way i could set my default installation to my custom installation myFlatpaks after setting this location as my preferred place to install all apps, I could simple use flatpak install flathub org.qBittorrent.qbittorrent ... instead of the current flatpak --installation=myFlatpaks install flathub org.qBittorrent.qbittorrent ... saving myself from having to type installation=myFlatpaks everytime i want to install something.

similarly if --user location was set as the place of choice for installation ... then one could install with flatpak install flathub org.qBittorrent.qbittorrent saving themselves from having to type --user every time.

Another way to accomplish what you want would be for the install command to search all installations, not just system and user, for existing remotes. So that way if you want to only use a custom installation you can have that be the only installation with remotes configured. And as is already the case if you want to only use --user you can have that be the only installation with remotes configured.

@mwleeds ... of what you suggest above ... can i setup my system to install with the command flatpak install flathub org.qBittorrent.qbittorrent currently ... and still end up installing all my applications to 'myFlatpaks' custom location ?

If so ... i would appreciate a little more detailed procedure on how can accomplish that ...

[aiamuzz]

There's also the mailing list.

@kirbyfan64 ... but mailing lists won't be ideal for threads on tutorials ...

Didn't know about reddit having a section for flatpak discussions ... i'll have this thread replicated there ...

@mwleeds ... could you update flatpak repo page with the reddit url as the flatpaks forum/place for community discussions ?

[mwleeds]

@mwleeds ... of what you suggest above ... can i setup my system to install with the command flatpak install flathub org.qBittorrent.qbittorrent currently ... and still end up installing all my applications to 'myFlatpaks' custom location ?

If so ... i would appreciate a little more detailed procedure on how can accomplish that ...

Currently, no. I was suggesting a possible change to the install command that would be similar to what #2345 does. The way it could work is that if you don't use --installation and you have, say, flathub configured in both the system installation and your custom one, you're prompted to choose between them. If you only have the flathub remote configured in your custom installation, the custom installation would be used.

@mwleeds ... could you update flatpak repo page with the reddit url as the flatpaks forum/place for community discussions ?

#2355

[aiamuzz]

Currently, no. I was suggesting a possible change to the install command that would be similar to what #2345 does. The way it could work is that if you don't use --installation and you have, say, flathub configured in both the system installation and your custom one, you're prompted to choose between them. If you only have the flathub remote configured in your custom installation, the custom installation would be used.

oh ok you were thinking out loud on how to approach this ... :)

It may work as you state ... but wouldn't be an elegant solution in the sense that its trading off another functionality (one of NOT adding a remote) isn't it ? ... we are trading off a valid operation(of keeping remotes added to the various installation paths) in order to make something work for us ... this could be a interim solution but can it be permanent one ?

i know you are talking in terms of how it can be done given the current system ... as you know all the nuts and bolts of this ... forgive me ... i am talking in general design terms ... and in no way intend to offend ... i guess when a layman talks to a techie ... it may sound like me ... :)

[aiamuzz]

@mwleeds ...

hey ... there is indeed an option by --system didn't know i just used it as an idea ... :)

I just noticed that the command flatpak install flathub com.syntevo.SmartGit and flatpak --system install flathub com.syntevo.SmartGit accomplish the same outcome ... both install the app to the default location.

So this command flatpak install flathub com.syntevo.SmartGit ... is it hardwired to use the --system parameter in the background ?
or

--system is an additional and separate option created just like --user ?

If its hardwired to use --system in the background then is it difficult to hard wire it to --user or --installation= options ?

If its hardwired to use it then wouldn't that enable you to create the above option to set a particular install location as the default ? ... ... and if its isn't wired than ... wouldn't wiring it enable the possibility of setting a default install location ?

again ... would like to remind the above is not tech-speak ... rather a layman-speak !!! ... :)