DELUSER(8)							    DELUSER(8)



NAME
       deluser, delgroup - remove a user or group from the system

SYNOPSIS
       deluser	 [options]   [--force]	 [--remove-home]  [--remove-all-files]
       [--backup] [--backup-to DIR] user

       deluser --group [options] group
       delgroup [options] [--only-if-empty] group

       deluser [options] user group

   COMMON OPTIONS
       [--quiet] [--system] [--help] [--version] [--conf FILE]

DESCRIPTION
       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.  deluser and del
       group can be run in one of three modes:

   Remove a normal user
       If called with one non-option argument and without the --group  option,
       deluser will remove a normal 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 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 (defaulting to the
       current working directory). Both the remove and backup options can also
       be  activated  for default in the configuration file /etc/deluser.conf.
       See deluser.conf(5) for details.

       If you want to remove the root account (uid 0), then  use  the  --force
       parameter; this may prevent to remove the root user by accident.

       If  the	file /usr/local/sbin/deluser.local exists, it will be executed
       after the user account has been	removed  in  order  to	do  any  local
       cleanup. The arguments passed to deluser.local are:
       username uid gid home-directory


   Remove a group
       If  deluser is called with the --group option, or delgroup is called, a
       group will be removed.

       Warning: The primary group of an existing user cannot be removed.

       If the option --only-if-empty is given, the group wont be  removed  if
       it has any members left.


   Remove a user from a specific group
       If  called  with  two  non-option arguments, deluser will remove a user
       from a specific group.

OPTIONS
       --conf FILE
	      Use FILE instead of  the	default  files	/etc/deluser.conf  and
	      /etc/adduser.conf

       --group
	      Remove  a  group.  This  is the default action if the program is
	      invoked as delgroup.

       --help Display brief instructions.

       --quiet
	      Suppress progress messages.

       --system
	      Only delete if user/group is a system  user/group.  This	avoids
	      accidentally  deleting non-system users/groups. Additionally, if
	      the user does not exist, no error value is returned. This option
	      is mainly for use in Debian package maintainer scripts.

       --backup
	      Backup  all  files  contained in the userhome and the mailspool-
	      file to a file named /$user.tar.bz2 or /$user.tar.gz.

       --backup-to
	      Place the backup files not in / but in the  directory  specified
	      by this parameter.

       --remove-home
	      Remove  the  home  directory  of	the user and its mailspool. If
	      --backup is specified, the files are deleted after  having  per
	      formed the backup.

       --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.

       --version
	      Display version and copyright information.

RETURN VALUE
       0      The action was successfully executed.

       1      The user to delete was not a system account. No action was  per
	      formed.

       2      There is no such user. No action was performed.

       3      There is no such group. No action was performed.

       4      Internal error. No action was performed.

       5      The group to delete is not empty. No action was performed.

       6      The  user  does not belong to the specified group. No action was
	      performed.

       7      You cannot remove a user from its primary group. No  action  was
	      performed.

       8      The  required perl-package perl modules is not installed. This
	      package is required to perform the requested actions. No	action
	      was performed.

       9      For  removing  the  root	account  the  parameter  "--force"  is
	      required. No action was performed.


FILES
       /etc/deluser.conf

SEE ALSO
       deluser.conf(5), adduser(8), userdel(8), groupdel(8)


COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2000 Roland Bauerschmidt.	Modifications  (C)  2004  Marc
       Haber and Joerg Hoh.  This manpage and the deluser program are based on
       adduser which is:
       Copyright (C) 1997, 1998, 1999 Guy Maor.
       Copyright (C) 1995 Ted Hajek, with a great deal borrowed from the orig
       inal Debian adduser
       Copyright  (C) 1994 Ian Murdock.  deluser is free software; see the GNU
       General Public Licence version  2  or  later  for  copying  conditions.
       There is no warranty.



Debian GNU/Linux		 Version 3.110			    DELUSER(8)