Can i delete PKInstallSandboxManager files from /private/var/folders?

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Level 2

231 points

Can i delete PKInstallSandboxManager files from /private/var/folders?

About 9GB of my SSD is taken up with files in the /private/var/folders/.../PKInstallSandboxManager/ directory. The timestamp on the files is over a week ago. I've rebooted my computer several times since then, so if I was certain these were "temporary" files I would have deleted them. It looks like they're left over from some software installation.

Can I delete them all to reclaim disk space? "lsof" lists nothing in that directory as an open file.

Posted on Apr 29, 2015 2:02 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 29, 2015 2:04 PM in response to Jeff Bailey

It's your computer. Delete whatever you want. Be sure to have backups.

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Answer 2

Jeff Bailey Author

Level 2

231 points

Apr 29, 2015 2:05 PM in response to Kappy

Very clever. What I meant was, "Does anyone know of any detrimental effects of deleting that directory?"

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 29, 2015 2:44 PM in response to Jeff Bailey

I usually just put such things in the Trash without empty the Trash in order to test. But I would be immediately concerned over any system file with Sandbox in its name.

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Answer 4

Jeff Bailey Author

Level 2

231 points

Apr 29, 2015 2:43 PM in response to Kappy

Me too. But there are no open files in that directory. On the presumption this overweight directory is the result of an interrupted installation, I'll take your suggestion and move the directories to ~/.Trash

Thanks.

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Answer 5

cheung

Level 1

4 points

Jun 19, 2015 6:40 AM in response to Jeff Bailey

Jeff Bailey wrote:

Me too. But there are no open files in that directory. On the presumption this overweight directory is the result of an interrupted installation, I'll take your suggestion and move the directories to ~/.Trash

Thanks.

How did it go? Mine is about 7GB; and was last modified 3 days ago (which coincides with no installations that I can recall).

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Answer 6

Jeff Bailey Author

Level 2

231 points

Jun 19, 2015 7:46 AM in response to cheung

I discovered most of the files were due to a pending OS X automatic upgrade. I performed the upgrade and the files went away!

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