Command Line in Linux to clear the /tmp folder

[BBC123]

I am not a regular Linux user. I was working on Linux when I realized that my system is working slowly. I asked my friend about it and h suggested me to clear the /tmp folder. Can anyone help me to clear /tmp folder and also provide some hints to reduce this problem in future?

[Jessalyn]

Firstly, the /tmp folder should not placed along with the folder and files tha you use frequently or some other application uses frequently. Files which are necessary for an Apache session, .pid files & .lock files should never come near to the /tmp folder. I suggest they should be placed in other drive. The writable files create by applications should also not be saved near the /tmp folder.

[Evoldo]

Usually many versions of Linux are pre-programmed to clean the /tmp folder on reboot. This is because they save /tmp files on RAM disk. If any app is automatically saving important data in that folder, change the output location. I suggest you simple solution of loading a module in startup execution. Here is the code for module,
mkdir -f /tmp/directory
chown .... # if needed
chmod .... # if needed
.
.
"Normal startup"

[Addison]

While removing a file from /tmp folder, see to the ownership of the file. If the ownership of file doesn’t belong to your system then the file won’t delete. If you try to delete it with force or maybe by using 3rd party application, it might harm your system. Never remove the /tmp folder, it is necessary for proper operation of system.

[Sitia]

Try ‘rm’ command. If you will be using this command as a root user you have to be extremely careful. Many users have faced problems after unknowingly deleting important core files and data while using ‘rm’ command. If you want to delete the contents of /tmp folder periodically, then you can add the following code to your shellscript in combination of ’rm’ command.
tmpwatch --mtime --all 240 /tmp
Here , 240 = 24 x 10 where 10 is number of days.
This code will clear the /tmp folder every 10 days.