USERDEL(8)						    BSD System Manager's Manual 						USERDEL(8)

NAME

     userdel -- remove a user from the system

SYNOPSIS

     userdel -D [-p preserve-value]
     userdel [-rSv] [-p preserve-value] user

DESCRIPTION

     The userdel utility removes a user from the system, optionally removing that user's home directory and any subdirectories.

     Default values are taken from the information provided in the /etc/usermgmt.conf file, which, if running as root, is created using the built-
     in defaults if it does not exist.

     The first form of the command shown above (using the -D option) sets and displays the defaults for the userdel utility.

     See user(8) for more information about EXTENSIONS.

     -D      Without any further options, -D will show the current defaults which will be used by the userdel utility.	Together with one of the
	     options shown for the first version of the command, -D will set the default to be the new value.  This option is included if built
	     with EXTENSIONS.

     -p preserve-value
	     Set the preservation value.  If this value is one of 'true', 'yes', or a non-zero number, then the user login information will be
	     preserved.  This option is included if built with EXTENSIONS.

     In the second form of the command, after setting any defaults, and then reading values from /etc/usermgmt.conf, the following command line
     options are processed:

     -p preserve-value
	     Preserve the user information in the password file, but do not allow the user to login, by switching the password to an
	     ``impossible'' one, and by setting the user's shell to the 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
	     /etc/usermgmt.conf file, using the 'preserve' field.  If the field has any of the values 'true', 'yes', or a non-zero number, then
	     user information preservation will take place.  This option is included if built with EXTENSIONS.

     -r      Remove the user's home directory, any subdirectories, and any files and other entries in them.

     -S      Allow a samba user name (with a trailing dollar sign) to be deleted.  This option is included if built with EXTENSIONS.

     -v      Perform any actions in a verbose manner.  This option is included if built with EXTENSIONS.

     Once the information has been verified, userdel uses 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.

EXIT STATUS

     The userdel utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

FILES

     /etc/usermgmt.conf

SEE ALSO

     passwd(5), usermgmt.conf(5), group(8), nologin(8), pwd_mkdb(8), user(8), useradd(8)

HISTORY

     The userdel utility first appeared in NetBSD 1.5.	It is based on the addnerd package by the same author.

AUTHORS

     The userdel utility was written by Alistair G. Crooks <agc@NetBSD.org>.

BSD
								 November 16, 2005							       BSD