Uninstall Linux-Based Nodes

Last modified on May 30, 2025

Overview

This article provides the general process of uninstalling Linux-based nodes (gateways or relays). If you need to remove the StrongDM gateway or relay software from your server and do not intend to destroy the server itself, follow the instructions provided.

Steps

  1. Log in to the server via a command-line interface.
  2. Stop any and all StrongDM services with a command similar to the following:
sudo systemctl stop sdm-proxy sdm-worker sdm
  1. Remove all StrongDM (sdm) files, including environment configuration files, service unit files, and binaries, as in the following example. We suggest running this command with sudo and using the -f (force) flag to ensure the files are entirely removed regardless of any potential permission issues.
sudo rm -f /etc/sysconfig/sdm* /etc/systemd/system/sdm*.service /usr/local/bin/sdm /opt/strongdm/bin/sdm
  1. Reload the systemd configuration to ensure systemd acknowledges the services are gone:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
  1. Unset the SDM_RELAY_TOKEN and SDM_ADMIN_TOKEN environment variables:
unset SDM_RELAY_TOKEN
unset SDM_ADMIN_TOKEN
  1. Although it may not be necessary in your specific situation, we suggest that you reboot the server, to be thorough.