xref: /openbsd/usr.sbin/user/userdel.8 (revision db3296cf)
1.\" $OpenBSD: userdel.8,v 1.10 2003/06/15 06:40:15 jmc Exp $
2.\" $NetBSD: userdel.8,v 1.24 2003/02/25 10:36:21 wiz Exp $
3.\"
4.\" Copyright (c) 1999 Alistair G. Crooks.  All rights reserved.
5.\"
6.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
7.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
8.\" are met:
9.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
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11.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
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13.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
14.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
15.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
16.\"	This product includes software developed by Alistair G. Crooks.
17.\" 4. The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote
18.\"    products derived from this software without specific prior written
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21.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS
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33.\"
34.Dd November 30, 1999
35.Dt USERDEL 8
36.Os
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm userdel
39.Nd remove a user from the system
40.Sh SYNOPSIS
41.Nm userdel
42.Fl D
43.Op Fl p Ar preserve-value
44.Nm userdel
45.Op Fl prv
46.Ar user
47.Sh DESCRIPTION
48The
49.Nm
50utility removes a user from the system, optionally
51removing that user's home directory and any subdirectories.
52.Pp
53Default values are taken from the information provided in the
54.Pa /etc/usermgmt.conf
55file, which, if running as root, is created using the built-in defaults if
56it does not exist.
57.Pp
58The first form of the command shown above (using the
59.Fl D
60option) sets and displays the defaults for the
61.Nm
62utility.
63.Bl -tag -width Ds
64.It Fl D
65without any further options,
66.Fl D
67will show the current defaults which will be used by the
68.Nm
69utility.
70Together with one of the options shown for the first version
71of the command,
72.Fl D
73will set the default to be the new value.
74.It Fl p Ar preserve-value
75sets the preservation value.
76If this value is one of
77.Ql true ,
78.Ql yes ,
79or a non-zero number, then the user login information will be preserved.
80.El
81.Pp
82In the second form of the command,
83after setting any defaults, and then reading values from
84.Pa /etc/usermgmt.conf ,
85the following command line options are processed:
86.Bl -tag -width Ds
87.It Fl p
88preserve the user information in the password file,
89but do not allow the user to login, by switching the
90password to an
91.Dq impossible
92one, and by setting the
93user's shell to the
94.Xr nologin 8
95program.
96This option can be helpful in preserving a user's
97files for later use by members of that person's
98group after the user has moved on.
99This value can also be set in the
100.Pa /etc/usermgmt.conf
101file, using the
102.Ql preserve
103field.
104If the field has any of the values
105.Ql true ,
106.Ql yes ,
107or a non-zero number, then user information preservation will take place.
108.It Fl r
109remove the user's home directory, any subdirectories,
110and any files and other entries in them.
111.It Fl v
112perform any actions in a verbose manner.
113.El
114.Pp
115Once the information has been verified,
116.Nm
117uses
118.Xr pwd_mkdb 8
119to update the user database.
120This is run in the background, and,
121at very large sites could take several minutes.
122Until this update is completed, the password file is unavailable for other
123updates and the new information is not available to programs.
124.Pp
125The
126.Nm
127utility exits 0 on success, and \*(Gt0 if an error occurs.
128.Sh FILES
129.Bl -tag -width /etc/usermgmt.conf -compact
130.It Pa /etc/usermgmt.conf
131.El
132.Sh SEE ALSO
133.Xr passwd 5 ,
134.Xr usermgmt.conf 5 ,
135.Xr nologin 8 ,
136.Xr pwd_mkdb 8
137.Sh HISTORY
138The
139.Nm
140utility first appeared in
141.Ox 2.7 .
142.Sh AUTHORS
143The
144.Nm
145utility was written by
146.An Alistair G. Crooks Aq agc@NetBSD.org .
147