deluser, delgroup - remove a user or group from the system
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
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 section.
deluser and delgroup can be run in one of three modes:
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 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.
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 operation 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 maintainer scripts may use this flag to remove system users or groups while ignoring the case where the removal already occurred.
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, respectively.
If called with two non-option arguments, deluser will remove a user from a specific group.
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 documentation. Users are advised to migrate to the long version of options.
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,
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,
dirPlace 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,
fileUse file instead of the default files
/etc/deluser.conf and /etc/adduser.conf. Multiple
--conf options may be given.
Synonymous to --stdoutmsglevel=debug. Deprecated.
Remove a group. This is the default action if the program is invoked
as delgroup. Valid Mode: deluser.
Display brief instructions.
Only remove if no members are left. Valid Modes: deluser --group, delgroup,
Synonymous to --stdoutmsglevel=warn. Deprecated.
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 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,
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,
Synonymous to --stdoutmsglevel=info. Deprecated.
prio prio 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.
Display version and copyright information.
The exit values documented in adduser(8) also apply for deluser.
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.
/etc/deluser.conf Default configuration file for
deluser(8) and delgroup(8)
/usr/local/sbin/deluser.localOptional custom add-ons, see deluser.local(8)
adduser(8), deluser.conf(5), deluser.local.conf(8), groupdel(8), userdel(8)