NAME
userdel
- remove a user from the system
SYNOPSIS
userdel
-D
[-p preserve-value]
userdel
[-rSv]
[-p preserve-value]
user
DESCRIPTION
The
userdel
utility removes a user from the system, optionally
removing that user's home directory and any subdirectories.
Default values are taken from the information provided in the
/etc/usermgmt.conf
file, which, if running as root, is created using the built-in
defaults if it does not exist.
The first form of the command shown above (using the
-D
option) sets and displays the defaults for the
userdel
utility.
See
user(8)
for more information about
EXTENSIONS
.
- -D
-
Without any further options,
-D
will show the current defaults which will be used by the
userdel
utility.
Together with one of the options shown for the first version
of the command,
-D
will set the default to be the new value.
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
- -p preserve-value
-
Set the preservation value.
If this value is one of
`true',
`yes',
or a non-zero number, then the user login information will be
preserved.
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
In the second form of the command,
after setting any defaults, and then reading values from
/etc/usermgmt.conf
,
the following command line options are processed:
- -p preserve-value
-
Preserve the user information in the password file,
but do not allow the user to login, by switching the
password to an
``impossible''
one, and by setting the user's shell to the
nologin(8)
program.
This option can be helpful in preserving a user's
files for later use by members of that person's
group after the user has moved on.
This value can also be set in the
/etc/usermgmt.conf
file, using the
`preserve'
field.
If the field has any of the values
`true',
`yes',
or a non-zero number, then user information preservation will take
place.
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
- -r
-
Remove the user's home directory, any subdirectories,
and any files and other entries in them.
- -S
-
Allow a samba user name (with a trailing dollar sign)
to be deleted.
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
- -v
-
Perform any actions in a verbose manner.
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
Once the information has been verified,
userdel
uses
pwd_mkdb(8)
to update the user database.
This is run in the background, and,
at very large sites could take several minutes.
Until this update
is completed, the password file is unavailable for other updates
and the new information is not available to programs.
EXIT STATUS
FILES
/etc/usermgmt.conf
-
SEE ALSO
passwd(5),
usermgmt.conf(5),
group(8),
nologin(8),
pwd_mkdb(8),
user(8),
useradd(8)
HISTORY
The
userdel
utility first appeared in
NetBSD1.5.
It is based on the
addnerd
package by the same author.
AUTHORS
The
userdel
utility was written by
Alistair G. Crooks
<agc@NetBSD.org>.