diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e6d85764..55b65fe6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -20,6 +20,16 @@ All notable changes to the Lager platform are documented here. For detailed rele
   server's rotation replay detection). Found by the box-lifecycle CI's
   first supervised runs.
 
+- **`lager install` and `lager uninstall` no longer remove containers and
+  images they do not own.** The deploy script stopped and force-removed
+  EVERY container on the box and pruned every unused image; uninstall's
+  image cleanup did the same prune. On a box that also runs third-party
+  containers (a management agent, a user's own services) this destroyed
+  infrastructure the tooling cannot restore. Cleanup is now scoped to the
+  containers lager creates (`lager`, `pigpio`, legacy `controller`), the
+  lager image, and dangling layers. Found by the box-lifecycle CI's first
+  supervised reinstall, which took down the box's gateway agent.
+
 ## [0.32.3] - 2026-07-22
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/cli/commands/utility/uninstall.py b/cli/commands/utility/uninstall.py
index f01600e6..058e2fbe 100644
--- a/cli/commands/utility/uninstall.py
+++ b/cli/commands/utility/uninstall.py
@@ -603,7 +603,7 @@ def query_ssh(cmd):
     click.echo("  - Docker containers (lager, pigpio)")
     click.echo("  - Docker network (lagernet)")
     if not keep_docker_images:
-        click.echo("  - Docker images (ALL unused images on the box, not only lager's)")
+        click.echo("  - Docker images (the lager image and dangling layers only)")
     click.echo("  - ~/box directory")
     if not keep_config:
         click.echo("  - /etc/lager directory (saved nets)")
@@ -707,10 +707,15 @@ def run_priv_session(steps):
         run_ssh("docker network rm lagernet 2>/dev/null", "Removing lagernet network", allow_fail=True)
         click.echo()
 
-        # Remove Docker images (unless --keep-docker-images)
+        # Remove Docker images (unless --keep-docker-images). Scoped to the
+        # lager image plus dangling layers: 'prune -af' would also delete
+        # images belonging to any OTHER stopped container on the box (a
+        # management agent, a user's own services) — infrastructure this
+        # command cannot restore.
         click.secho("[Step 2/5] Cleaning Docker...", fg='cyan')
         if not keep_docker_images:
-            run_ssh("docker image prune -af 2>/dev/null", "Removing Docker images", allow_fail=True)
+            run_ssh("docker rmi -f lager 2>/dev/null", "Removing lager image", allow_fail=True)
+            run_ssh("docker image prune -f 2>/dev/null", "Removing dangling images", allow_fail=True)
             run_ssh("docker builder prune -af 2>/dev/null", "Clearing Docker build cache", allow_fail=True)
         else:
             click.echo("  Skipping Docker image removal (--keep-docker-images)")
diff --git a/cli/deployment/scripts/setup_and_deploy_box.sh b/cli/deployment/scripts/setup_and_deploy_box.sh
index c84f1ccf..af0a1fa4 100755
--- a/cli/deployment/scripts/setup_and_deploy_box.sh
+++ b/cli/deployment/scripts/setup_and_deploy_box.sh
@@ -1339,33 +1339,37 @@ print_info "Ensuring Docker service is enabled (for auto-start on boot)..."
 ssh $SSH_OPTS "${BOX_USER}@${BOX_IP}" "sudo systemctl enable docker >/dev/null 2>&1 || true"
 print_success "Docker service enabled"
 
-print_info "Stopping and removing all existing containers..."
-# Update restart policy first to prevent auto-restart, then force remove all containers
+print_info "Stopping and removing lager containers..."
+# Scoped to the containers this deployment owns (lager, pigpio, and the
+# legacy controller). A box may run third-party containers alongside lager
+# — a management agent, a user's own services — and removing containers we
+# did not create takes down infrastructure this script cannot restore.
+# Update restart policy first to prevent auto-restart, then force remove.
 ssh $SSH_OPTS "${BOX_USER}@${BOX_IP}" "
-    # Disable auto-restart on all containers first
-    docker update --restart=no \$(docker ps -aq) 2>/dev/null || true
-    # Stop all running containers
-    docker stop \$(docker ps -q) 2>/dev/null || true
-    # Remove all containers (running and stopped)
-    docker rm -f \$(docker ps -aq) 2>/dev/null || true
-    # Prune any leftover containers
-    docker container prune -f 2>/dev/null || true
+    for c in lager pigpio controller; do
+        docker update --restart=no \$c 2>/dev/null || true
+        docker stop \$c 2>/dev/null || true
+        docker rm -f \$c 2>/dev/null || true
+    done
     # Wait a moment for Docker to clean up
     sleep 2
 " 2>/dev/null || true
-print_success "All containers cleaned up"
+print_success "Lager containers cleaned up"
 
-print_info "Cleaning up Docker images and build cache to free disk space..."
+print_info "Cleaning up Docker build cache and dangling images..."
 echo ""
+# Dangling-only (no -a): 'prune -af' would also delete images belonging to
+# third-party containers stopped at this moment, which cannot be re-pulled
+# by this script.
 ssh $SSH_OPTS "${BOX_USER}@${BOX_IP}" "
-    echo 'Removing unused Docker images...'
-    docker image prune -af 2>/dev/null || true
+    echo 'Removing dangling Docker images...'
+    docker image prune -f 2>/dev/null || true
     echo 'Removing Docker build cache...'
     docker builder prune -af 2>/dev/null || true
     echo 'Cleanup complete'
 " 2>/dev/null || true
 echo ""
-print_success "Docker images and build cache cleaned up"
+print_success "Docker build cache and dangling images cleaned up"
 
 print_info "Checking available disk space..."
 ssh $SSH_OPTS "${BOX_USER}@${BOX_IP}" "df -h / | tail -n 1 | awk '{print \"Available: \" \$4 \" (\" \$5 \" used)\"}'" 2>/dev/null || true