---
title: Delete and redeploy AM
description: If you need to delete your configuration and start the process from the beginning, follow these steps:
component: pingam
version: 8.1
page_id: pingam:installation:start-over-install
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingam/8.1/installation/start-over-install.html
keywords: ["Install", "Backup & Restore"]
page_aliases: ["install-guide:start-over-install.adoc"]
---

# Delete and redeploy AM

If you need to delete your configuration and start the process from the beginning, follow these steps:

1. Stop the AM web application to clear the configuration held in memory.

   The following example shuts down Apache Tomcat:

   ```bash
   $ /path/to/tomcat/bin/shutdown.sh
   Password:
   Using CATALINA_BASE:   /path/to/tomcat
   Using CATALINA_HOME:   /path/to/tomcat
   Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /path/to/tomcat/temp
   Using JRE_HOME:        /path/to/jdk/jre
   Using CLASSPATH:
   /path/to/tomcat/bin/bootstrap.jar:/path/to/tomcat/bin/tomcat-juli.jar
   ```

2. Delete the AM configuration files, by default under the `$HOME` of the user running the web application container:

   ```bash
   $ rm -rf $HOME/am $HOME/.openamcfg
   ```

3. When installing or reinstalling a standalone AM instance, you must ensure the configuration store used does not contain previous configuration data.

   You should either install a new, clean instance of DS, or delete the entries under the configured AM suffix (by default `ou=am-config`) of an existing instance.

   Note that when adding a server to an existing deployment, you must not delete the configuration from DS, as it is shared by all servers in the deployment. See [Add a server to a site](configure-sites.html#add-servers-to-site).

4. Delete any cached files from the container.

   For example, on Tomcat, files are cached in a folder named after the deployment path, such as `/path/to/tomcat/work/Catalina/localhost/deployment path`. Use a command such as the following to delete these cached files:

   ```bash
   $ rm -rf /path/to/tomcat/work/Catalina/localhost/am
   ```

5. Restart the AM web application.

   The following example starts the Tomcat container:

   ```bash
   $ /path/to/tomcat/bin/startup.sh
   Password:
   Using CATALINA_BASE:   /path/to/tomcat
   Using CATALINA_HOME:   /path/to/tomcat
   Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /path/to/tomcat/temp
   Using JRE_HOME:        /path/to/jdk/jre
   Using CLASSPATH:
   /path/to/tomcat/bin/bootstrap.jar:/path/to/tomcat/bin/tomcat-juli.jar
   ```