# man > deluser(8)

[_DELUSER_(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DELUSER/8/markdown)                             System Manager's Manual                            [_DELUSER_(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DELUSER/8/markdown)

## 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gzip/1/markdown).  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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/adduser/8/markdown) 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/sudo/8/markdown)  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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deluser/8/markdown) and [**delgroup**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/delgroup/8/markdown)

       _/usr/local/sbin/deluser.local_
              Optional custom add-ons, see [**deluser.local**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deluser.local/8/markdown)


## SEE ALSO
       [**adduser**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/adduser/8/markdown), [**deluser.conf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deluser.conf/5/markdown), [**deluser.local.conf**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deluser.local.conf/8/markdown), [**groupdel**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/groupdel/8/markdown), [**userdel**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/userdel/8/markdown)

Debian GNU/Linux                                                                          [_DELUSER_(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DELUSER/8/markdown)