deluser

DELUSER(8)                                                          DELUSER(8)



NAME
       deluser, delgroup - remove a user or group from the system

SYNOPSIS
       deluser  [options]  [--remove-home]  [--home  DIR] [--remove-all-files]
       [--backup] [--backup-to] user

       deluser --group [options] group
       delgroup [options] [--only-if-empty] group

       deluser [options] user group

   COMMON OPTIONS
       [--quiet] [--system] [--help] [--version] [--conf FILE]

DESCRIPTION
       deluser and delgroup remove users and groups from the system  according
       to    command   line   options   and   configuration   information   in
       /etc/deluser.conf and /etc/adduser.conf.   They  are  friendlier  front
       ends  to the userdel and groupdel programs, removing the home directory
       as option or even all files on the system  owned  by  the  user  to  be
       removed, running a custom script, and other features.  deluser and del-
       group can be run in one of three modes:

   Remove a normal user
       If called with  one  non-option  argument  and  without  the    --group
       options, deluser will remove a normal user.

       By  default,  deluser  will  remove  the user without removing the home
       directory, the mail spool  or any other files on the  system  owned  by
       the  user.  Removing the home directory and mail spool can be archieved
       using the --remove-home option. If the --home option is given,  deluser
       will  only  remove the user if the directory given to the --home option
       matches the user's real home directory.

       The --remove-all-files option removes all files on the system owned  by
       the  user.  Note  that  if you activate both options --remove-home will
       have no effect because all files including the home directory and  mail
       spool are already covered by the --remove-all-files option.

       If  you  want to backup all files before deleting them you can activate
       the --backup option which will create a file username.tar(.gz|.bz2)  in
       the  directory  specified  by the --backup-to option (defaulting to the
       current working directory). Both the remove and backup options can also
       be  activated  for default in the configuration file /etc/deluser.conf.
       See deluser.conf(5) for details.

       If the file /usr/local/sbin/deluser.local exists, it will  be  executed
       after the user account has been removed in order to do any local setup.
       The arguments passed to deluser.local are:
       username uid gid home-directory


   Remove a group
       If deluser is called with the --group option, or delgroup is called,  a
       group will be removed.

       Warning: If any users have the group to be removed as primary group the
       group cannot be removed.

       If the option --only-if-empty is given, the group won't be  removed  if
       it has any members left.


   Remove an user from a specific group
       If  called  with  two non-option arguments, deluser will remove an user
       from a specific group.

OPTIONS
       --conf FILE
              Use FILE instead of /etc/deluser.conf.

       --group
              Remove a group. This is the default action  if  the  program  is
              invoked as delgroup.

       --help Display brief instructions.

       --quiet
              Suppress progress messages.

       --system
              Only  delete  if  user/group is a system user/group. This avoids
              accidentally deleting non-system user/groups.  Additionally,  if
              the user does not exist, no error value is returned. This option
              is mainly for use in Debian package maintainer scripts.

       --version
              Display version and copyright information.

FILES
       /etc/deluser.conf

SEE ALSO
       deluser.conf(5), adduser(8), userdel(8), groupdel(8)


COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2000 Roland Bauerschmidt.  Modifications  (C)  2004  Marc
       Haber.   This manpage and the deluser program is based on adduser which
       is:
       Copyright (C) 1997, 1998, 1999 Guy Maor.
       Copyright (C) 1995 Ted Hajek, with a great deal borrowed from the orig-
       inal Debian adduser
       Copyright  (C) 1994 Ian Murdock.  deluser is free software; see the GNU
       General Public Licence version  2  or  later  for  copying  conditions.
       There is no warranty.



Debian GNU/Linux                 Version 3.59                       DELUSER(8)