shadow/man/userdel.8.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--
   Copyright (c) 1991 - 1994, Julianne Frances Haugh
   Copyright (c) 2007 - 2009, Nicolas François
   All rights reserved.
  
   Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
   modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
   are met:
   1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
   2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
      documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
   3. The name of the copyright holders or contributors may not be used to
      endorse or promote products derived from this software without
      specific prior written permission.
  
   THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
   ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
   LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
   PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
   HOLDERS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
   SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
   LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
   DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
   THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
   (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
   OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
-->
<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.5//EN"
  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
<!ENTITY MAIL_DIR              SYSTEM "login.defs.d/MAIL_DIR.xml">
<!ENTITY MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP SYSTEM "login.defs.d/MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP.xml">
<!ENTITY USERDEL_CMD           SYSTEM "login.defs.d/USERDEL_CMD.xml">
<!ENTITY USERGROUPS_ENAB       SYSTEM "login.defs.d/USERGROUPS_ENAB.xml">
]>
<refentry id='userdel.8'>
  <!-- $Id$ -->
  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>userdel</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
    <refmiscinfo class="sectdesc">System Management Commands</refmiscinfo>
  </refmeta>
  <refnamediv id='name'>
    <refname>userdel</refname>
    <refpurpose>delete a user account and related files</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>
  <refsynopsisdiv id='synopsis'>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>userdel</command>
      <arg choice='opt'>options</arg>
      <arg choice='plain'>
	<replaceable>LOGIN</replaceable>
      </arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1 id='description'>
    <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
    <para>
      The <command>userdel</command> command modifies the system account
      files, deleting all entries that refer to the user name <emphasis
      remap='I'>LOGIN</emphasis>. The named user must exist.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id='options'>
    <title>OPTIONS</title>
    <para>
      The options which apply to the <command>userdel</command> command are:
    </para>
    <variablelist remap='IP'>
      <varlistentry>
	<term>
	  <option>-f</option>, <option>--force</option>
	</term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    This option forces the removal of the user account, even if the
	    user is still
	    logged in. It also forces <command>userdel</command> to remove
	    the user's home directory and mail spool, even if another
	    user uses the same home directory or if the mail spool is not
	    owned by the specified user.  If
	    <emphasis>USERGROUPS_ENAB</emphasis> is defined to <emphasis
	    remap='I'>yes</emphasis> in <filename>/etc/login.defs</filename>
	    and if a group exists with the same name as the deleted user,
	    then this group will be removed, even if it is still the primary
	    group of another user.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    <emphasis>Note:</emphasis> This option is dangerous and may leave
	    your system in an inconsistent state.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-h</option>, <option>--help</option></term>
          <listitem>
	    <para>Display help message and exit.</para>
	  </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term>
	  <option>-r</option>, <option>--remove</option>
	</term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Files in the user's home directory will be removed along with
	    the home directory itself and the user's mail spool. Files
	    located in other file systems will have to be searched for and
	    deleted manually.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    The mail spool is defined by the <emphasis>MAIL_DIR</emphasis>
	    variable in the <filename>login.defs</filename> file.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id='configuration'>
    <title>CONFIGURATION</title>
    <para>
      The following configuration variables in
      <filename>/etc/login.defs</filename> change the behavior of this
      tool:
    </para>
    <variablelist>
      &MAIL_DIR; <!-- documents also MAIL_FILE -->
      &MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP;
      &USERDEL_CMD;
      &USERGROUPS_ENAB;
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id='files'>
    <title>FILES</title>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><filename>/etc/group</filename></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>Group account information.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><filename>/etc/login.defs</filename></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>Shadow password suite configuration.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><filename>/etc/passwd</filename></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>User account information.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><filename>/etc/shadow</filename></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>Secure user account information.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id='exit_values'>
    <title>EXIT VALUES</title>
    <para>
      The <command>userdel</command> command exits with the following values:
      <variablelist>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term><replaceable>0</replaceable></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>success</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term><replaceable>1</replaceable></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>can't update password file</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term><replaceable>2</replaceable></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>invalid command syntax</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term><replaceable>6</replaceable></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>specified user doesn't exist</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term><replaceable>8</replaceable></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>user currently logged in</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term><replaceable>10</replaceable></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>can't update group file</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term><replaceable>12</replaceable></term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>can't remove home directory</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id='caveats'>
    <title>CAVEATS</title>
    <para>
      <command>userdel</command> will not allow you to remove an account if
      there are running processes which belong to this account. In that
      case, you may have to kill those processes or lock the user's
      password or account and remove the account later. The
      <option>-f</option> option can force the deletion of this account.
    </para>
    <para>You may not remove any NIS attributes on a NIS client. This must
      be performed on the NIS server.
    </para>
    <para>If <emphasis>USERGROUPS_ENAB</emphasis> is defined to <emphasis
      remap='I'>yes</emphasis> in <filename>/etc/login.defs</filename>,
      <command>userdel</command> will delete the group with the same name
      as the user. To avoid inconsistencies in the passwd and group
      databases, <command>userdel</command> will check that this group is
      not used as a primary group for another user, and will just warn
      without deleting the group otherwise. The <option>-f</option> option
      can force the deletion of this group.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id='see_also'>
    <title>SEE ALSO</title>
    <para><citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>chfn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>chsh</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>passwd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>login.defs</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>gpasswd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>groupadd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>groupdel</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>groupmod</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>useradd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>usermod</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>.
    </para>
  </refsect1>
</refentry>