xref: /openbsd-src/usr.sbin/user/userdel.8 (revision 7a3d14ecb20e7bd4167711f8dc52b019326d4275)

.\" $OpenBSD: userdel.8,v 1.18 2016/11/29 03:59:31 jsg Exp $
.\" $NetBSD: userdel.8,v 1.24 2003/02/25 10:36:21 wiz Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 1999 Alistair G. Crooks.  All rights reserved.
.\"
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.Dd $Mdocdate: November 29 2016 $
.Dt USERDEL 8
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm userdel
.Nd remove a user from the system
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm userdel
.Fl D
.Op Fl p Ar preserve-value
.Nm userdel
.Op Fl rv
.Op Fl p Ar preserve-value
.Ar user
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility removes a user from the system, optionally
removing that user's home directory and any subdirectories.
.Pp
Default values are taken from the information provided in the
.Pa /etc/usermgmt.conf
file, which, if running as root, is created using the built-in defaults if
it does not exist.
.Pp
The first form of the command shown above (using the
.Fl D
option) sets and displays the defaults for the
.Nm
utility.
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl D
Without any further options,
.Fl D
will show the current defaults which will be used by the
.Nm
utility.
Together with one of the options shown for the first version
of the command,
.Fl D
will set the default to be the new value.
.It Fl p Ar preserve-value
Sets the preservation value.
If this value is one of
.Ql true ,
.Ql yes ,
or a non-zero number, then the user login information will be preserved.
.El
.Pp
In the second form of the command,
after setting any defaults, and then reading values from
.Pa /etc/usermgmt.conf ,
the following command line options are processed:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl p Ar preserve-value
Preserve the user information in the password file,
but do not allow the user to login, by switching the
password to an
.Dq impossible
one, and by setting the
user's shell to the
.Xr 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
.Pa /etc/usermgmt.conf
file, using the
.Ql preserve
field.
If the field has any of the values
.Ql true ,
.Ql yes ,
or a non-zero number, then user information preservation will take place.
.It Fl r
Remove the user's home directory, any subdirectories,
and any files and other entries in them.
.It Fl v
Perform any actions in a verbose manner.
.El
.Pp
Once the information has been verified,
.Nm
uses
.Xr 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.
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width /etc/usermgmt.conf -compact
.It Pa /etc/usermgmt.conf
.El
.Sh EXIT STATUS
.Ex -std userdel
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr passwd 5 ,
.Xr usermgmt.conf 5 ,
.Xr nologin 8 ,
.Xr pwd_mkdb 8
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
utility first appeared in
.Ox 2.7 .
.Sh AUTHORS
The
.Nm
utility was written by
.An Alistair G. Crooks Aq Mt agc@NetBSD.org .