Uninstalling an Edge Node

Removing an edge node stops it from processing workloads, deletes its local data, and removes the auto-start service so it won’t come back after a reboot.

The agent ships a built-in uninstall command that handles all of this. Use it unless the binary is already gone — in which case follow the Manual Removal steps.

Quick Uninstall

The binary lives at ~/.ee-cdn/bin/edge-node (it’s only on your PATH if you added it during setup).

Interactive install (macOS, or Linux with a desktop session)

~/.ee-cdn/bin/edge-node uninstall

Headless Linux installed as a system service (installed with sudo)

Run uninstall with sudo too, or it can’t stop or remove the system unit:bash sudo ~/.ee-cdn/bin/edge-node uninstall

The command auto-detects whether the node was installed as a system unit (/etc/systemd/system/) or a user unit (~/.config/systemd/user/) and tears down the correct one.

What Gets Removed

Item	Removed?	Notes
Running process	✓	Stopped gracefully
Service unit (systemd / launchd plist)	✓	No longer starts on boot
Data directory ~/.ee-cdn	✓	Cache, settings.json, enrollment config, auth tokens, logs. Your node’s identity is not stored here — see Reinstalling Later
The edge-node binary	✘	Left in place — remove manually if desired

Reinstalling Later

Reinstalling the node software brings back the same node. Your node’s identity is derived from the machine, not from the data directory, so removing ~/.ee-cdn does not create a new node — your Active Node Hours, badges and history are intact when you reinstall.

Two cases are different:

• Reinstalling the operating system generates a new machine identity. A node that enrolls afterwards is a new node, starting with no Active Node Hours.
• Container nodes need a fixed hostname and a persistent machine ID to keep one identity across recreations. See Docker, below.

See Node Identity for the full explanation.

To remove the binary as well:

rm ~/.ee-cdn/bin/edge-node

Manual Removal

Use these if the edge-node binary is no longer available.

Linux — user service

systemctl --user stop ee-cdn-edge-node.service
systemctl --user disable ee-cdn-edge-node.service
rm -f ~/.config/systemd/user/ee-cdn-edge-node.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload
rm -rf ~/.ee-cdn

Linux — system service (run as root)

sudo systemctl stop ee-cdn-edge-node.service
sudo systemctl disable ee-cdn-edge-node.service
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/ee-cdn-edge-node.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
rm -rf ~/.ee-cdn

macOS

launchctl bootout "gui/$(id -u)/ee-cdn-edge-node" 2>/dev/null
launchctl bootout "user/$(id -u)/ee-cdn-edge-node" 2>/dev/null
rm -f ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ee-cdn-edge-node.plist
rm -rf ~/.ee-cdn

Windows

The command:

irm https://cp.3dge.app/install.ps1 | iex

downloads and runs an installation script. The script could not be retrieved from this environment, so first identify the Docker container and volume it created rather than assuming their exact names.

Open PowerShell and run:

docker ps -a

Look for a container using this image:

eecdn/ee-cdn-edge

Note its container name—this guide uses edge-node as the example.

Remove The Container, Keep Node Data

Use this if you may reinstall later and want to retain persistent node state. Read Container Nodes and Node Identity, below, before recreating the container — keeping the volume alone does not keep your node’s identity.

docker stop edge-node
docker rm edge-node

Or force-stop and remove it in one command:

docker rm -f edge-node

Replace edge-node with the actual container name shown by docker ps -a. Removing a container does not normally remove Docker named volumes. docs.docker

Completely Remove The Application

Warning: The following removal may delete persistent edge-node state, including activation/registration data.

1. Stop and remove the container:

   docker rm -f edge-node

2. List Docker volumes:

   docker volume ls

3. Identify the volume used by the edge node—commonly something containing edge-data, ee-cdn, or the project name.

4. Inspect a candidate volume before deleting it:

   docker volume inspect edge-data

5. Remove the confirmed edge-node volume:

   docker volume rm edge-data

Docker will refuse to remove a volume that is still attached to a container, so always remove the container first. docs.docker

Remove The Downloaded Image

This is optional and only frees local disk space:

docker image rm docker.io/eecdn/ee-cdn-edge:latest

If Docker reports the image is in use, check docker ps -a for other containers using it before removing it. docs.docker

Check For Host-Path Data

The installer may have used a Windows host directory instead of a Docker named volume. Inspect the container before removing it if you need to determine its data location:

docker inspect edge-node --format '{{json .Mounts}}'

Look for a mount whose destination is /data.

• If its Type is volume, remove the named volume only if you want a full reset.
• If its Type is bind, note the Windows source path, remove the container, then delete that directory manually only if you intentionally want to erase persistent data.

Example for a host-path directory:

Remove-Item -LiteralPath 'C:\path\to\ee-cdn-data' -Recurse -Force

Verify the path carefully before running Remove-Item -Recurse -Force; it permanently deletes all files within that directory.

Verify Removal

docker ps -a --filter "ancestor=docker.io/eecdn/ee-cdn-edge:latest"
docker volume ls
docker image ls | Select-String 'ee-cdn-edge'

Do not use docker system prune --volumes --all for this purpose unless you intend to remove unused Docker resources for every application on the Windows system. Microsoft documents that command as a system-wide cleanup step, not an app-specific uninstaller. learn.microsoft

Notes & Gotchas

• Systemd lingering (headless Linux). Installation enables systemd user lingering so the node survives logout. It’s harmless to leave, but for a fully clean state run:

sudo loginctl disable-linger <user>

• Data directory under sudo. The built-in uninstall deletes ~/.ee-cdn for the user that runs the command. If a system service was installed via sudo but the node’s data lived in the operator’s home, sudo edge-node uninstall removes the service unit correctly but may not clear the operator’s ~/.ee-cdn. Run rm -rf ~/.ee-cdn as the operator afterward to be sure.

• Removing the node from the network. After uninstall the node stops heartbeating and the control plane marks it offline automatically. No portal action is required.

Docker

Docker Run Deployment

Container Nodes and Node Identity

A container node takes its identity from the container, not from the /data volume. The standard image has no persistent machine identity, and a container’s hostname changes each time it is recreated. Recreating the container therefore enrolls a new node, even when the /data volume is kept, and the new node starts with no Active Node Hours.

To keep one identity across recreations, give the container a fixed hostname and a persistent machine ID.

Create the machine ID file once, and keep it:

uuidgen | tr -d '-' > ~/edge-node-machine-id

Then include both in the container:

docker run -d \
  --name edge-node \
  --hostname edge-node \
  -v ~/edge-node-machine-id:/etc/machine-id:ro \
  -v edge-data:/data \
  ...

Or in docker-compose.yml:

services:
  edge-node:
    hostname: edge-node
    volumes:
      - ~/edge-node-machine-id:/etc/machine-id:ro
      - edge-data:/data

This applies from the next enrollment onwards; it does not restore hours a node has already lost. Deleting ~/edge-node-machine-id has the same effect as reinstalling the operating system — the next enrollment creates a new node.

For a container started with docker run, uninstalling means removing the container by name. If you used the earlier example, the container name is edge-node.

Remove The Container, Keep Data

Use this if you may reinstall later and want to retain persistent node state, including activation data:

docker stop edge-node
docker rm edge-node

Or stop and remove it in one command:

docker rm -f edge-node

docker rm -f stops a running container and removes it. A named volume is not removed automatically, even when docker rm -v is used. docs.docker

Completely Remove The Application

Warning: This permanently deletes the node’s persistent /data contents. The node will need to enroll again after reinstalling, and unless you have set a fixed hostname and a persistent machine ID it will enroll as a new node with no Active Node Hours.

If the container used the named volume from the docker run example:

docker rm -f edge-node
docker volume rm edge-data

Verify the exact volume name before deleting it:

docker volume ls

Docker cannot remove a volume while a container still uses it, so remove the container first. docs.docker

Remove The Downloaded Image

This is optional. It frees local disk space but is unnecessary if you might reinstall:

docker image rm docker.io/eecdn/ee-cdn-edge:latest

If Docker reports that the image is in use, check for other containers that use it before forcing removal. Docker supports removing an image by its image reference with docker image rm. docs.docker

If You Used A Host Directory

If your original command mapped a host directory to /data, such as:

-v /srv/ee-cdn:/data

remove the container first:

docker rm -f edge-node

Then, only if you want a full reset, manually delete that host directory:

rm -rf /srv/ee-cdn

Double-check the path before executing rm -rf; it permanently deletes its contents. Docker does not delete host-path bind mounts when a container is removed.

Verify Removal

docker ps -a --filter name=edge-node
docker volume ls | grep edge-data
docker image ls | grep ee-cdn-edge

No output from the first command means the container has been removed. Keep the volume and image unless you specifically need a full cleanup.

Docker Compose:

To uninstall a Docker Compose deployment, stop and remove the stack with docker compose down. By default, this removes the containers and Compose-created network but preserves persistent volumes, including the edge node’s edge-data state. docs.docker

Preserve node data

Use this if you may reinstall the app or want to retain activation and local node state:

cd /path/to/the/compose-file-directory
docker compose down

If you named the file something other than the default compose.yaml or docker-compose.yml:

docker compose -f /path/to/docker-compose.yml down

For the edge node, this stops and removes edge-node but leaves the named edge-data volume intact.

Completely remove it

Warning: This deletes the node’s persistent /data contents, which may include registration/activation state.

cd /path/to/the/compose-file-directory
docker compose down --volumes --remove-orphans

--volumes (or -v) removes named volumes declared in the Compose file as well as anonymous volumes; --remove-orphans additionally removes containers associated with the project that are no longer defined in the current Compose file. docs.docker

To also delete the downloaded container image:

docker compose down --volumes --remove-orphans --rmi local

Use --rmi all only if you intentionally want Compose to remove every image used by this project, including images that were not built locally. docs.docker

Host-path data

Some NAS guides replace the Compose named volume with a host bind mount, for example:

- /mnt/tank/appdata/ee-cdn:/data

or:

- /DATA/AppData/ee-cdn:/data

In that case, docker compose down --volumes does not delete the host folder. After the stack is down, delete the mapped host directory manually only if you intend a complete reset:

rm -rf /path/to/ee-cdn

Double-check the path before running rm -rf; it permanently deletes the edge-node data.

Management UIs & NAS Devices

Use the stack/app’s Delete, Remove, or Down action:

• Portainer: Stacks → select the stack → Remove. Enable volume removal only for a full reset.
• Dockge: Select the Compose stack → Down or Delete. Keep volumes unless a full reset is intended.
• Unraid Compose Manager: Docker → Compose → select stack → Compose Down; delete the associated appdata folder separately only if desired.
• Synology / QNAP / UGOS / ZimaOS / OMV: Stop and delete the Compose project/application, then separately decide whether to delete its mapped persistent-data folder.

Avoid global cleanup commands such as docker system prune --volumes unless you have audited every other container on the host. docker volume prune --all can remove any unused named volume, not just this application’s volume. docs.docker

Have questions? Hop into Discord or submit a support request.