Gnome Tracker¶

What Is Gnome Tracker?¶

The Gnome Tracker indexes content from the file system (home directory) and metadata. This provides an ability to do full-text searches to locate data or better interaction within various applications.

Tracker is made up of several components which various depending on the version of the Tracker used.

Component v2	Description
tracker-extract	Extracts metadata from files.
tracker-miner-fs	A daemon responsible for crawling the file system for data.
tracker-miner-rss	Populate Tracker with RSS feed data.
tracker-store	Database indexer and query daemon.
tracker-writeback	Write metadata set in Tracker back to physical files.

Component v3	Description
tracker-extract-3	Extracts metadata from files.
tracker-miner-fs-3	A daemon responsible for crawling the file system to mine data.
tracker-miner-fs-control-3	Tracker filesystem indexing proxy.
tracker-miner-rss-3	Populate Tracker with RSS feed data.
tracker-writeback-3	Write metadata set in Tracker back to physical files.
tracker-xdg-portal-3	Provides access to Tracker endpoints in a controlled manner (daemon).

Settings¶

Tracker configuration can be modified using gsettings. Available options are listed as shown below.

$ gsettings list-recursively | grep -i org.freedesktop.Tracker | sort | uniq

org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Extract max-bytes 1048576
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Extract text-allowlist ['*.txt', '*.md', '*.mdwn']
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Extract wait-for-miner-fs false
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.FTS enable-stemmer false
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.FTS enable-unaccent true
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.FTS ignore-numbers true
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.FTS ignore-stop-words true
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files crawling-interval -1
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files enable-monitors true
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files ignored-directories ['po', 'CVS', 'core-dumps', 'lost+found']
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files ignored-directories-with-content ['.trackerignore', '.git', '.hg', '.nomedia']
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files ignored-files ['*~', '*.o', '*.la', '*.lo', '*.loT', '*.in', '*.m4', '*.rej', '*.gmo', '*.orig', '*.pc', '*.omf', '*.aux', '*.tmp', '*.vmdk', '*.vm*', '*.nvram', '*.part', '*.rcore', '*.lzo', 'autom4te', 'conftest', 'confstat', 'Makefile', 'SCCS', 'ltmain.sh', 'libtool', 'config.status', 'confdefs.h', 'configure', '#*#', '~$*.doc?', '~$*.dot?', '~$*.xls?', '~$*.xlt?', '~$*.xlam', '~$*.ppt?', '~$*.pot?', '~$*.ppam', '~$*.ppsm', '~$*.ppsx', '~$*.vsd?', '~$*.vss?', '~$*.vst?', '*.directory']
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files index-applications true
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files index-on-battery-first-time true
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files index-on-battery true
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files index-optical-discs false
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files index-recursive-directories ['&DESKTOP', '&DOCUMENTS', '&MUSIC', '&PICTURES', '&VIDEOS']
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files index-removable-devices false
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files index-single-directories ['$HOME', '&DOWNLOAD']
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files initial-sleep 15
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files low-disk-space-limit -1
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files removable-days-threshold 3
org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files throttle 0

How To Disable Gnome Tracker¶

Use one of the following solutions.

Warning

Disabling Gnome Tracker may result in breaking application functionality or the application may not be able to run.

Gnome Settings¶

Open Gnome Settings.
In the vertical navigation bar on the left, left mouse click on "Search".
At the top right, left mouse click on the toggle switch to disable.

Note

The toggle switch position should be on the left to indicate it is disabled.

Note

Some users have reported that this does not truly disable the Tracker as of Gnome v3.34. See another solution.

Systemd¶

The steps outlined below use a method called masking which creates a symbolic link for each systemd unit file pointing to "/dev/null". This makes it impossible to start the service even if another service tries to start it. This solution is better than disabling a service as disabled services can be called to be started by another service that depends upon it.

Current User¶

Open the terminal.

Mask Tracker's services by using one of the applicable methods.

Tracker v2:

$ systemctl --user mask tracker-store.service tracker-miner-fs.service tracker-miner-rss.service tracker-extract.service tracker-miner-apps.service tracker-writeback.service

Tracker v3:

$ systemctl --user mask tracker-extract-3.service tracker-miner-fs-3.service tracker-miner-rss-3.service tracker-writeback-3.service tracker-xdg-portal-3.service tracker-miner-fs-control-3.service

Note

A warning may occur for some of these services due to not existing. You can safely ignore this warning as some systems do not include all of these services.

Kill all Tracker processes and remove all databases using one of the following applicable methods.

Tracker v2:

$ tracker reset -r

CAUTION: This process may irreversibly delete data.
Although most content indexed by Tracker can be safely reindexed, it can’t be assured that this is the case for all data.
Be aware that you may be incurring in a data loss situation, proceed at your own risk.

Are you sure you want to proceed? [y|N]: y

Tracker v3:

$ tracker3 reset -s -r

Reboot the system.
```
$ systemctl reboot
```
Verify all services are disabled by using How to Verify Gnome Tracker is Disabled.

System Wide¶

Open the terminal.

Mask Tracker's services by using one of the applicable methods.

Tracker v2:

# systemctl --global mask tracker-store.service tracker-miner-fs.service tracker-miner-rss.service tracker-extract.service tracker-miner-apps.service tracker-writeback.service

Tracker v3:

# systemctl --global mask tracker-extract-3.service tracker-miner-fs-3.service tracker-miner-rss-3.service tracker-writeback-3.service tracker-xdg-portal-3.service tracker-miner-fs-control-3.service

Note

A warning may occur for some of these services due to not existing. You can safely ignore this warning as some systems do not include all of these services.

Kill all Tracker processes and remove all databases.

Tracker v2:

# tracker reset -r

CAUTION: This process may irreversibly delete data.
Although most content indexed by Tracker can be safely reindexed, it can’t be assured that this is the case for all data.
Be aware that you may be incurring in a data loss situation, proceed at your own risk.

Are you sure you want to proceed? [y|N]: y

Tracker v3:

$ tracker3 reset -s -r

Reboot the system.
```
$ systemctl reboot
```
Verify all services are disabled by using How to Verify Gnome Tracker is Disabled.

Disable Autostart¶

The X Window autostart processes are started by the following files.

Tracker v2:

/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-extract.desktop
/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-apps.desktop
/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-fs.desktop
/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-rss.desktop
/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-store.desktop

Tracker v3:

/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-fs-3.desktop
/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-rss-3.desktop

Note

Some autostart files may not exist due to system configuration.

Current User¶

Open terminal.
Create autostart directory.
```
$ mkdir ~/.config/autostart
```

Copy X Window autostart files.

$ cp -v /etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-* ~/.config/autostart/

Tracker v2:

'/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-extract.desktop' -> '/home/username-here/.config/autostart/tracker-extract.desktop'
'/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-fs.desktop' -> '/home/username-here/.config/autostart/tracker-miner-fs.desktop'
'/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-rss.desktop' -> '/home/username-here/.config/autostart/tracker-miner-rss.desktop'
'/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-store.desktop' -> '/home/username-here/.config/autostart/tracker-store.desktop'

Tracker v3:

'/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-fs-3.desktop' -> '/home/username-here/.config/autostart/tracker-miner-fs-3.desktop'
'/etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-rss-3.desktop' -> '/home/username-here/.config/autostart/tracker-miner-rss-3.desktop'

Disable each X Window autostart file.

$ for FILE in $(ls ~/.config/autostart/tracker-*); do echo "Hidden=true" >> $FILE; done

Kill all Tracker processes and remove all databases.

Tracker v2:

$ tracker reset -r

CAUTION: This process may irreversibly delete data.
Although most content indexed by Tracker can be safely reindexed, it can’t be assured that this is the case for all data.
Be aware that you may be incurring in a data loss situation, proceed at your own risk.

Are you sure you want to proceed? [y|N]: y

Tracker v3:

$ tracker3 reset -s -r

Reboot the system.
```
$ systemctl reboot
```
Verify all services are disabled by using How to Verify Gnome Tracker is Disabled.

How To Verify Gnome Tracker Is Disabled¶

Tracker v2:

$ tracker daemon -p

Found 0 PIDs...

Tracker v3:

$ tracker3 daemon -p

Found 0 PIDs...

Tracker v2 (systemd):

Note

If disabling the services system-wide replace "--user" with "--global" and run using elevated privileges (e.g. sudo).

$ systemctl --user mask tracker-store.service tracker-miner-fs.service tracker-miner-rss.service tracker-extract.service tracker-miner-apps.service tracker-writeback.service

○ tracker-store.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-store.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

○ tracker-miner-fs.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-miner-fs.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

○ tracker-miner-rss.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-miner-rss.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

○ tracker-extract.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-extract.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

○ tracker-miner-apps.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-miner-apps.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

○ tracker-writeback.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-writeback.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

Tracker v3 (systemd):

Note

If disabling the services system-wide replace "--user" with "--global" and run using elevated privileges (e.g. sudo).

$ systemctl --user status tracker-extract-3.service tracker-miner-fs-3.service tracker-miner-rss-3.service tracker-writeback-3.service tracker-xdg-portal-3.service tracker-miner-fs-control-3.service

○ tracker-extract-3.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-extract-3.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

○ tracker-miner-fs-3.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-miner-fs-3.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

○ tracker-miner-rss-3.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-miner-rss-3.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

○ tracker-writeback-3.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-writeback-3.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

○ tracker-xdg-portal-3.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-xdg-portal-3.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

○ tracker-miner-fs-control-3.service
    Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit tracker-miner-fs-control-3.service is masked.)
    Active: inactive (dead)

How To Enable Gnome Tracker¶

Systemd¶

Current User¶

Open the terminal.

Unmask Tracker's services by using one of the applicable methods.

Tracker v2:

$ systemctl --user unmask tracker-store.service tracker-miner-fs.service tracker-miner-rss.service tracker-extract.service tracker-miner-apps.service tracker-writeback.service

Tracker v3:

$ systemctl --user mask tracker-extract-3.service tracker-miner-fs-3.service tracker-miner-rss-3.service tracker-writeback-3.service tracker-xdg-portal-3.service tracker-miner-fs-control-3.service

Note

A warning may occur for some of these services due to not existing. You can safely ignore this warning as some systems do not include all of these services.

Kill all Tracker processes and remove all databases.

Tracker v2:
```
$ tracker reset -r
```
Tracker v3:
```
$ tracker3 reset -s -r
```
Reboot the system.
```
$ systemctl reboot
```

System Wide¶

Open the terminal.

Unmask Tracker's services by using one of the applicable methods.

Tracker v2:

# systemctl --global unmask tracker-store.service tracker-miner-fs.service tracker-miner-rss.service tracker-extract.service tracker-miner-apps.service tracker-writeback.service

Tracker v3:

# systemctl --global unmask tracker-extract-3.service tracker-miner-fs-3.service tracker-miner-rss-3.service tracker-writeback-3.service tracker-xdg-portal-3.service tracker-miner-fs-control-3.service

Note

A warning may occur for some of these services due to not existing. You can safely ignore this warning as some systems do not include all of these services.

Kill all Tracker processes and remove all databases.

Tracker v2:
```
# tracker reset -r
```
Tracker v3:
```
# tracker3 reset -s -r
```
Reboot the system.
```
$ systemctl reboot
```

How To Remove Gnome Tracker¶

In most situations Gnome Tracker cannot be removed as it is a dependency of another desired application. For this reason it is recommended to Disable Gnome Tracker instead.

Notable Directories¶

Path	Description
$HOME/.cache/tracker	Database.
$HOME/.local/share/tracker/data	Data backup.

External Links¶

Last update: September 21, 2023