SystemRequires admin/root
Man Page Cache
Linux stores preformatted manual pages under /var/cache/man so commands like man ls can display troff-formatted output without rerunning the formatter every time. That cache typically contains catman pages, compressed rendered manpage output, and index data generated from the source files in /usr/share/man and related directories. Kudu clears those regenerated files from /var/cache/man, leaving the original man page sources, user accounts, shell history, and system settings untouched.
Why clean Man Page Cache?
- Stale catman output after a package upgrade can show outdated command flags or examples, so man pages display text that no longer matches the installed binary
- Corrupted preformatted pages in /var/cache/man can produce garbled formatting, broken backspacing, or unreadable overstrike characters when running man
- Mixed cached output from old locale or encoding settings can make manual pages show incorrect accented characters or messy spacing in the terminal
- A partially rebuilt man cache after interrupted package maintenance can cause some man topics to open instantly while others fail back to slow reformatting or report missing preformatted pages
- Large accumulated catman files from many installed packages waste root-owned disk space under /var, which users notice as avoidable filesystem usage on small system partitions
- Old cache entries from removed or replaced packages can surface obsolete documentation, making man searches and references point to commands or options that are no longer present
What gets cleaned
Cache paths Kudu targets
Linux
/var/cache/man |
Frequently asked
Common questions about Man Page Cache
Related cleaners
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