man > DELUSER(8)

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] [--stdoutmsglevel prio]
               [--stderrmsglevel prio] [--logmsglevel prio] user

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

       deluser --group [--conf file] [--debug] [--only-if-empty] [--quiet] [--verbose]
               [--stdoutmsglevel prio] [--stderrmsglevel prio] [--logmsglevel prio] group
       delgroup [--system] [--conf file] [--debug] [--only-if-empty] [--quiet] [--verbose]
                [--stdoutmsglevel prio] [--stderrmsglevel prio] [--logmsglevel prio] group

       deluser [--conf file] [--debug] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--stdoutmsglevel prio]
               [--stderrmsglevel prio] [--logmsglevel prio] user group

       deluser --help

       deluser --version

DESCRIPTION
       deluser  and  delgroup  remove users and groups from the system according to command line op‐
       tions 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 direc‐
       tory 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 section.

       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 directory, 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 directory 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-suf‐
       fix 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 operation is actually exe‐
       cuted 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  re‐
       moved.    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, respectively.


   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  op‐
       tion, 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 documentation.  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.  Defaults 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.  Multi‐
              ple --conf options may be given.

       --debug
              Synonymous to --stdoutmsglevel=debug. Deprecated.

       --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
              Synonymous to --stdoutmsglevel=warn. Deprecated.

       --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  performed  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  er‐
              ror value is returned.  Valid Modes: deluser, deluser --system,

       --verbose
              Synonymous to --stdoutmsglevel=info. Deprecated.

       --stdoutmsglevel prio
       --stderrmsglevel prio
       --logmsglevel prio
              Minimum  priority for messages logged to syslog/journal and the console, respectively.
              Values are trace, debug, info, warn, err, and fatal.  Messages with the  priority  set
              here  or  higher get printed to the respective medium.  Messages printed to stderr are
              not repeated on stdout.  That allows the local admin to control  adduser's  chattiness
              on the console and in the log independently, keeping probably confusing information to
              itself while still leaving helpful information in the log.

       --version
              Display version and copyright information.

EXIT VALUES
       The exit values documented in adduser(8) also apply for deluser.


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 delgroup(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)