[Simon]

I noticed that old receipts are kept around even if you have a newer version installed. For example my /Library/Receipts/ folder has the following items:

NeoOffice-2.2.3.pkg
NeoOffice-2.2.4.pkg
NeoOffice-2.2.4_patch1.pkg
NeoOffice-2.2.4_patch2.pkg
NeoOffice-2.2.4_patch3.pkg
NeoOffice-2.2.4_patch4.pkg
NeoOffice-2.2.5.pkg

The last item corresponds to the installed version. No older versions are installed. But the receipts are still there.

I noticed some of these actually take up quite some space. And I've also heard (don't know if it's true though) that permission repair takes longer if you have many receipts.

So is there any reason to keep those old receipts around? Or is it safe to delete receipts of old versions you no longer have?

[Jasoco]

I would like to know this too.

I actually just ran Onyx and it had an option to remove them. So I did. Now my folder is empty except for two folders called "boms" and "db". Both empty. I don't think they're important. I don't see why they need to be kept. I think they're just like a cache or something. Used at the time, but only for quicker access, but can be safely deleted.

Can someone back that up?

Edit: It seems with all the reciepts gone, doing a "Check for Software Updates" takes longer. So it might just be a cache for making software update quicker at checking for updates.

[Simon]

Nobody?

[P]

Receipts are used to determine what you have installed, for the sake of Software Update, and for permissions repair. What permissions repair does is to reset the permissions to whatever they were in that installation package.

What will happen if you delete all but the latest up the update receipts? Hard to say. My guess is that it will be OK, but I don't really know.

[Jasoco]

It is ok. I deleted all mine and nothing bad happened. Simply a longer first check for new updates. I already posted that.

They're not required for the OS at all. Just for convenience later on.

[CharlesS]

I don't think Repair Permissions uses the pkg receipts anymore in 10.5. I think it only uses the contents of /Receipts/db and/or /Receipts/boms. The .pkg receipts are only put there by older installers built to target pre-Leopard systems.

[Jasoco]

Yeah, and those are the two folders that were left after I cleaned them all out. The actual packages can be removed. (I just used Onyx)

[Art Vandelay]

But didn't you say above that those folders are now empty. If they are, you just removed the ability to repair permissions.

[Jasoco]

Empty of PKG files. Not of the two folders the OS requires. "bom" and "db".

[Art Vandelay]

But are those two folders empty? You said above that they are.

[Simon]

So if the pkg files in /Library/Receipts are no longer used by DU, is there any reason to delete older receipts apart from space savings?

[dimmer]

No.

[Jasoco]

Well, the "bom" and "db" folders are not empty. They are not to be touched. But any .pkg packages in the same directory can safely be deleted. This I have already tested.

/Library/Reciepts/
> /db/
>> a.recieptdb (Mine is 159MB)
> /bom/
>> miscellaneous .bom files (Mine are 43MB)

Software Update will simply check slower the first time next time. But after that initial check and recording of all your software versions it will be as fast as it usually is. The reciepts are simply there to tell SU what has already been installed quicker. Removing them simply saves space, but causes SU to have to manually check all your Apple software's version numbers to see what apps need updating. Once it records this info after the initial check it will be fast again.

A .BOM file is a "Bill of Materials".
"This is a file in binary (non-text) format that describes the contents of an install archive. Apple's OS X Package Maker names this file ARCHIVE.BOM."