DELUSER(8)                                                          DELUSER(8)

NAME
       deluser, delgroup - remove a user or group from the system
SYNOPSIS
       deluser   [options]   [--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 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 won't 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 /etc/deluser.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.
       --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.
       5      The group to delete is not empty. No action was performed.
       6      The user does not belong to the specified group.
       7      You cannot remove a user from its primary group.

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 3.102                      DELUSER(8)