🧹 Remove SWAP on Linux (AlmaLinux, CloudLinux, CentOS, etc.)

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Here is a clear and complete guide for removing swap for both single and non-single partition setups:

🔍 Scenario 1: Non-Single Partition Setup

Where SWAP is on a dedicated partition (e.g. /dev/vda2)

✅ Step 1: View current partitions

lsblk

Example output:

NAME   MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sr0     11:0    1 1024M  0 rom
vda    253:0    0   30G  0 disk
+-vda1 253:1    0   29G  0 part /
+-vda2 253:2    0    1G  0 part [SWAP]
loop0    7:0    0  1.1G  0 loop /var/tmp

✅ Step 2: Turn off SWAP

swapoff -v /dev/vda2

✅ Step 3: Edit /etc/fstab to remove SWAP entry

nano /etc/fstab

Find the line referencing /dev/vda2 or swap and delete or comment it out.

Example to remove:

/dev/vda2 swap swap defaults 0 0

✅ Step 4: Delete SWAP partition using fdisk

fdisk /dev/vda

Then:

Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1,2, default 2): 2
Partition 2 has been deleted.

Command (m for help): w

This will write the changes and remove /dev/vda2.

✅ Step 5: (Optional) Remove device node (if needed)

Only run this if /dev/vda2 is still visible:

rm -v /dev/vda2

🔒 Scenario 2: Single Partition System (e.g. swap file, not partition)

✅ Step 1: Turn off SWAP

swapoff -a

✅ Step 2: Remove the swap entry from /etc/fstab

nano /etc/fstab

Remove or comment out the line like:

/swapfile none swap sw 0 0

✅ Step 3: (Optional) Delete the swap file

rm -v /swapfile

✅ All done! You’ve successfully removed SWAP.

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