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DELUSER(8)                  System Manager's Manual                 DELUSER(8)

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

SYNOPSIS
       deluser [--backup] [--backup-suffix str] [--backup-to dir]
               [--conf file] [--debug] [--remove-all-files] [--remove-home]
               [--quiet] [--verbose] user

       deluser [--system] [--backup] [--backup-suffix str] [--backup-to dir]
               [--conf file] [--debug] [--remove-all-files] [--remove-home]
               [--quiet] [--verbose] user

       deluser --group [--conf file] [--debug] [--only-if-empty] [--quiet]
               [--verbose] group
       delgroup [--system] [--conf file] [--debug] [--only-if-empty] [--quiet]
                [--verbose] group

       deluser [--conf file] [--debug] [--quiet] [--verbose] user group

       deluser --help

       deluser --version

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.

       For a full list and explanations of all options, see the  OPTIONS  sec-
       tion.

       deluser and delgroup can be run in one of three modes:

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

       By default, deluser will remove the user without removing the home  di-
       rectory,  the  mail spool or any other files on the system owned by the
       user.  Removing the home directory and mail spool can be achieved using
       the --remove-home option.

       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  additional effect because all files including the home direc-
       tory and mail spool are already covered by the  --remove-all-files  op-
       tion.

       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.

       By  default,  the backup archive is compressed with gzip(1).  To change
       this, the --backup-suffix option can be set to any suffix supported  by
       tar --auto-compress (e.g. .gz, .bz2, .xz).

       deluser will refuse to remove the root account.

       If  the --system option is given on the command line, the delete opera-
       tion is actually executed only if the user  is  a  system  user.   This
       avoids  accidentally  deleting  non-system users.  Additionally, if the
       user does not exist, no error value is returned.  Debian package  main-
       tainer scripts may use this flag to remove system users or groups while
       ignoring the case where the removal already occurred.

   Remove a group
       If deluser is called with the --group  option, or delgroup is called, a
       group will be removed.  The primary group of an existing user cannot be
       removed.  If the option --only-if-empty is given, the  group  won't  be
       removed if it has any members left.

       The  --system  option adds the same functionality as for users, respec-
       tively.

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

OPTIONS
       Different  modes of deluser allow different options.  If no valid modes
       are listed for a option, it is accepted in all modes.

       Short versions for certain options may exist  for  historical  reasons.
       They  are  going to stay supported, but are removed from the documenta-
       tion.  Users are advised to migrate to the long version of options.

       --backup
              Backup all files contained in the  userhome  and  the  mailspool
              file to a file named username.tar.bz2 or username.tar.gz.  Valid
              Modes: deluser, deluser --system,

       --backup-suffix str
              Select compression algorithm for a home directory  backup.   Can
              be  set  to  any  suffix recognized by tar --auto-compress.  De-
              faults to .gz.  Valid Modes: deluser, deluser --system,

       --backup-to dir
              Place the backup files not in the current directory but in  dir.
              This  implicitly sets --backup also.  (defaulting to the current
              working directory).  Valid Modes: deluser, deluser --system,

       --conf file
              Use file instead of  the  default  files  /etc/deluser.conf  and
              /etc/adduser.conf.  Multiple --conf options may be given.

       --debug
              Activate debugging code.

       --group
              Remove  a  group.   This is the default action if the program is
              invoked as delgroup.  Valid Mode: deluser.

       --help Display brief instructions.

       --only-if-empty
              Only remove if  no  members  are  left.   Valid  Modes:  deluser
              --group, delgroup,

       --quiet
              Suppress informational messages, only show warnings and errors.

       --remove-all-files
              Remove  all  files  from  the  system owned by this user.  Note:
              --remove-home does not have an effect any more.  If --backup  is
              specified,  the  files  are  deleted  after having performed the
              backup.  Valid Modes: deluser, deluser --system,

       --remove-home
              Remove the home directory of the user  and  its  mailspool.   If
              --backup  is  specified, the files are deleted after having per-
              formed the backup.  Valid Modes: deluser, deluser --system,

       --system
              Only delete if user/group is a system user/group.  If  the  user
              does  not  exist,  no  error  value  is  returned.  Valid Modes:
              deluser, deluser --system,

       --verbose
              Be more verbose.

       --version
              Display version and copyright information.

RETURN VALUE
       0      Success: The action was successfully executed.

       1      The user to delete was not a system account.  No action was per-
              formed.

       2      There is no such user.  No action was performed.

       3      There is no such group.  No action was performed.

       4      Internal error.  No action was performed.

       5      The group to delete is not empty.  No action was performed.

       6      The  user does not belong to the specified group.  No action was
              performed.

       7      You cannot remove a user from its primary group.  No action  was
              performed.

       8      The  suggested package 'perl' is not installed.  This package is
              required to perform the requested actions.  No action  was  per-
              formed.

       9      The root account cannot be deleted. No action was performed.

SECURITY
       deluser  needs  root privileges and offers, via the --conf command line
       option to use different configuration files.  Do  not  use  sudo(8)  or
       similar  tools  to  give  partial privileges to deluser with restricted
       command line parameters.  This is easy to circumvent  and  might  allow
       users to create arbitrary accounts.  If you want this, consider writing
       your own wrapper script and giving privileges to execute that script.

FILES
       /etc/deluser.conf Default configuration file for  deluser(8)  and  del-
       group(8)

       /usr/local/sbin/deluser.local
              Optional custom add-ons, see deluser.local(8)

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

Debian GNU/Linux                                                    DELUSER(8)

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