man/userdel.8.xml

   1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   2 <!--
   3    Copyright (c) 1991 - 1994, Julianne Frances Haugh
   4    Copyright (c) 2007 - 2009, Nicolas François
   5    All rights reserved.
   6
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  14       documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
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  16       endorse or promote products derived from this software without
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  31 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.5//EN"
  32   "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
  33 <!ENTITY MAIL_DIR              SYSTEM "login.defs.d/MAIL_DIR.xml">
  34 <!ENTITY MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP SYSTEM "login.defs.d/MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP.xml">
  35 <!ENTITY USERDEL_CMD           SYSTEM "login.defs.d/USERDEL_CMD.xml">
  36 <!ENTITY USERGROUPS_ENAB       SYSTEM "login.defs.d/USERGROUPS_ENAB.xml">
  37 ]>
  38 <refentry id='userdel.8'>
  39   <!-- $Id: userdel.8.xml 2964 2009-05-21 12:02:12Z nekral-guest $ -->
  40   <refmeta>
  41     <refentrytitle>userdel</refentrytitle>
  42     <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
  43     <refmiscinfo class="sectdesc">System Management Commands</refmiscinfo>
  44   </refmeta>
  45   <refnamediv id='name'>
  46     <refname>userdel</refname>
  47     <refpurpose>delete a user account and related files</refpurpose>
  48   </refnamediv>
  49   <refsynopsisdiv id='synopsis'>
  50     <cmdsynopsis>
  51       <command>userdel</command>
  52       <arg choice='opt'>options</arg>
  53       <arg choice='plain'>
  54         <replaceable>LOGIN</replaceable>
  55       </arg>
  56     </cmdsynopsis>
  57   </refsynopsisdiv>
  58
  59   <refsect1 id='description'>
  60     <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
  61     <para>
  62       The <command>userdel</command> command modifies the system account
  63       files, deleting all entries that refer to the user name <emphasis
  64       remap='I'>LOGIN</emphasis>. The named user must exist.
  65     </para>
  66   </refsect1>
  67
  68   <refsect1 id='options'>
  69     <title>OPTIONS</title>
  70     <para>
  71       The options which apply to the <command>userdel</command> command are:
  72     </para>
  73     <variablelist remap='IP'>
  74       <varlistentry>
  75         <term>
  76           <option>-f</option>, <option>--force</option>
  77         </term>
  78         <listitem>
  79           <para>
  80             This option forces the removal of the user account, even if the
  81             user is still
  82             logged in. It also forces <command>userdel</command> to remove
  83             the user's home directory and mail spool, even if another
  84             user uses the same home directory or if the mail spool is not
  85             owned by the specified user.  If
  86             <option>USERGROUPS_ENAB</option> is defined to <emphasis
  87             remap='I'>yes</emphasis> in <filename>/etc/login.defs</filename>
  88             and if a group exists with the same name as the deleted user,
  89             then this group will be removed, even if it is still the primary
  90             group of another user.
  91           </para>
  92           <para>
  93             <emphasis>Note:</emphasis> This option is dangerous and may leave
  94             your system in an inconsistent state.
  95           </para>
  96         </listitem>
  97       </varlistentry>
  98       <varlistentry>
  99         <term><option>-h</option>, <option>--help</option></term>
 100           <listitem>
 101             <para>Display help message and exit.</para>
 102           </listitem>
 103       </varlistentry>
 104       <varlistentry>
 105         <term>
 106           <option>-r</option>, <option>--remove</option>
 107         </term>
 108         <listitem>
 109           <para>
 110             Files in the user's home directory will be removed along with
 111             the home directory itself and the user's mail spool. Files
 112             located in other file systems will have to be searched for and
 113             deleted manually.
 114           </para>
 115           <para>
 116             The mail spool is defined by the <option>MAIL_DIR</option>
 117             variable in the <filename>login.defs</filename> file.
 118           </para>
 119         </listitem>
 120       </varlistentry>
 121     </variablelist>
 122   </refsect1>
 123
 124   <refsect1 id='configuration'>
 125     <title>CONFIGURATION</title>
 126     <para>
 127       The following configuration variables in
 128       <filename>/etc/login.defs</filename> change the behavior of this
 129       tool:
 130     </para>
 131     <variablelist>
 132       &MAIL_DIR; <!-- documents also MAIL_FILE -->
 133       &MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP;
 134       &USERDEL_CMD;
 135       &USERGROUPS_ENAB;
 136     </variablelist>
 137   </refsect1>
 138
 139   <refsect1 id='files'>
 140     <title>FILES</title>
 141     <variablelist>
 142       <varlistentry>
 143         <term><filename>/etc/group</filename></term>
 144         <listitem>
 145           <para>Group account information.</para>
 146         </listitem>
 147       </varlistentry>
 148       <varlistentry>
 149         <term><filename>/etc/login.defs</filename></term>
 150         <listitem>
 151           <para>Shadow password suite configuration.</para>
 152         </listitem>
 153       </varlistentry>
 154       <varlistentry>
 155         <term><filename>/etc/passwd</filename></term>
 156         <listitem>
 157           <para>User account information.</para>
 158         </listitem>
 159       </varlistentry>
 160       <varlistentry>
 161         <term><filename>/etc/shadow</filename></term>
 162         <listitem>
 163           <para>Secure user account information.</para>
 164         </listitem>
 165       </varlistentry>
 166     </variablelist>
 167   </refsect1>
 168
 169   <refsect1 id='exit_values'>
 170     <title>EXIT VALUES</title>
 171     <para>
 172       The <command>userdel</command> command exits with the following values:
 173       <variablelist>
 174         <varlistentry>
 175           <term><replaceable>0</replaceable></term>
 176           <listitem>
 177             <para>success</para>
 178           </listitem>
 179         </varlistentry>
 180         <varlistentry>
 181           <term><replaceable>1</replaceable></term>
 182           <listitem>
 183             <para>can't update password file</para>
 184           </listitem>
 185         </varlistentry>
 186         <varlistentry>
 187           <term><replaceable>2</replaceable></term>
 188           <listitem>
 189             <para>invalid command syntax</para>
 190           </listitem>
 191         </varlistentry>
 192         <varlistentry>
 193           <term><replaceable>6</replaceable></term>
 194           <listitem>
 195             <para>specified user doesn't exist</para>
 196           </listitem>
 197         </varlistentry>
 198         <varlistentry>
 199           <term><replaceable>8</replaceable></term>
 200           <listitem>
 201             <para>user currently logged in</para>
 202           </listitem>
 203         </varlistentry>
 204         <varlistentry>
 205           <term><replaceable>10</replaceable></term>
 206           <listitem>
 207             <para>can't update group file</para>
 208           </listitem>
 209         </varlistentry>
 210         <varlistentry>
 211           <term><replaceable>12</replaceable></term>
 212           <listitem>
 213             <para>can't remove home directory</para>
 214           </listitem>
 215         </varlistentry>
 216       </variablelist>
 217     </para>
 218   </refsect1>
 219
 220   <refsect1 id='caveats'>
 221     <title>CAVEATS</title>
 222     <para>
 223       <command>userdel</command> will not allow you to remove an account if
 224       there are running processes which belong to this account. In that
 225       case, you may have to kill those processes or lock the user's
 226       password or account and remove the account later. The
 227       <option>-f</option> option can force the deletion of this account.
 228     </para>
 229     <para>
 230       You should manually check all file systems to ensure that no files
 231       remain owned by this user.
 232     </para>
 233     <para>You may not remove any NIS attributes on a NIS client. This must
 234       be performed on the NIS server.
 235     </para>
 236     <para>If <option>USERGROUPS_ENAB</option> is defined to <emphasis
 237       remap='I'>yes</emphasis> in <filename>/etc/login.defs</filename>,
 238       <command>userdel</command> will delete the group with the same name
 239       as the user. To avoid inconsistencies in the passwd and group
 240       databases, <command>userdel</command> will check that this group is
 241       not used as a primary group for another user, and will just warn
 242       without deleting the group otherwise. The <option>-f</option> option
 243       can force the deletion of this group.
 244     </para>
 245   </refsect1>
 246
 247   <refsect1 id='see_also'>
 248     <title>SEE ALSO</title>
 249     <para><citerefentry>
 250         <refentrytitle>chfn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
 251       </citerefentry>,
 252       <citerefentry>
 253         <refentrytitle>chsh</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
 254       </citerefentry>,
 255       <citerefentry>
 256         <refentrytitle>passwd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
 257       </citerefentry>,
 258       <citerefentry>
 259         <refentrytitle>login.defs</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
 260       </citerefentry>,
 261       <citerefentry>
 262         <refentrytitle>gpasswd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 263       </citerefentry>,
 264       <citerefentry>
 265         <refentrytitle>groupadd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 266       </citerefentry>,
 267       <citerefentry>
 268         <refentrytitle>groupdel</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 269       </citerefentry>,
 270       <citerefentry>
 271         <refentrytitle>groupmod</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 272       </citerefentry>,
 273       <citerefentry>
 274         <refentrytitle>useradd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 275       </citerefentry>,
 276       <citerefentry>
 277         <refentrytitle>usermod</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 278       </citerefentry>.
 279     </para>
 280   </refsect1>
 281 </refentry>