'\" t
.\"     Title: userdel
.\"    Author: Julianne Frances Haugh
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 30.07.2026
.\"    Manual: System Management Commands
.\"    Source: shadow-utils 4.20.0
.\"  Language: German
.\"
.TH "USERDEL" "8" "30.07.2026" "shadow\-utils 4\&.20\&.0" "System Management Commands"
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.\" http://bugs.debian.org/507673
.\" http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2009-02/msg00013.html
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.nh
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.\" * MAIN CONTENT STARTS HERE *
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.SH "NAME"
userdel \- l\(:oscht ein Benutzerkonto und die dazugeh\(:origen Dateien
.SH "\(:UBERSICHT"
.HP \w'\fBuserdel\fR\ 'u
\fBuserdel\fR [options] \fILOGIN\fR
.SH "BESCHREIBUNG"
.PP
The
\fBuserdel\fR
command modifies the system account files, deleting all entries that refer to the user name
\fILOGIN\fR\&. The named user must exist\&.
.SH "OPTIONEN"
.PP
The options which apply to the
\fBuserdel\fR
command are:
.PP
\fB\-f\fR, \fB\-\-force\fR
.RS 4
This option forces the removal of the user account and any other requested actions, skipping any safety checks\&.
.sp
\fINote:\fR
This option is dangerous and may leave your system in an inconsistent state\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
.RS 4
zeigt die Hilfe an und beendet das Programm\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-r\fR, \fB\-\-remove\fR
.RS 4
entfernt das pers\(:onliche Verzeichnis des Benutzers mit den darin enthaltenen Dateiein und die Mail\-Warteschlange\&. Dateien in anderen Dateisystemen m\(:ussen per Hand gesucht und gel\(:oscht werden\&.
.sp
The mail spool is defined by the
\fBMAIL_DIR\fR
variable in the
login\&.defs
file\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-R\fR, \fB\-\-root\fR\ \&\fICHROOT_DIR\fR
.RS 4
Apply changes in the
\fICHROOT_DIR\fR
directory and use the configuration files from the
\fICHROOT_DIR\fR
directory\&. Only absolute paths are supported\&. No SELINUX support\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-P\fR, \fB\-\-prefix\fR\ \&\fIPREFIX_DIR\fR
.RS 4
Apply changes in the
\fIPREFIX_DIR\fR
directory and use the configuration files from the
\fIPREFIX_DIR\fR
directory\&. This option does not chroot and is intended for preparing a cross\-compilation target\&. Some limitations: NIS and LDAP users/groups are not verified\&. PAM authentication is using the host files\&. No SELINUX support\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-Z\fR, \fB\-\-selinux\-user\fR
.RS 4
entfernt jegliche Zuordnung zu SELinux\-Benutzern f\(:ur das Benutzerkonto\&.
.RE
.SH "KONFIGURATION"
.PP
The following configuration variables in
/etc/login\&.defs
change the behavior of this tool:
.PP
\fBMAIL_DIR\fR (string)
.RS 4
The mail spool directory\&. This is needed to manipulate the mailbox when its corresponding user account is modified or deleted\&. If not specified, a compile\-time default is used\&. The parameter CREATE_MAIL_SPOOL in
/etc/default/useradd
determines whether the mail spool should be created\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBMAIL_FILE\fR (string)
.RS 4
legt fest, wo sich die Dateien der Mail\-Warteschlange des Benutzers relativ zu seinem pers\(:onlichen Verzeichnis befinden\&.
.RE
.PP
The
\fBMAIL_DIR\fR
and
\fBMAIL_FILE\fR
variables are used by
\fBuseradd\fR,
\fBusermod\fR, and
\fBuserdel\fR
to create, move, or delete the user\*(Aqs mail spool\&.
.PP
\fBMAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP\fR (number)
.RS 4
Maximum members per group entry\&. When the maximum is reached, a new group entry (line) is started in
/etc/group
(with the same name, same password, and same GID)\&.
.sp
Der Standardwert ist 0, was bedeutet, dass die Anzahl der Mitglieder einer Gruppe nicht begrenzt ist\&.
.sp
Das Aufteilen von Gruppen erm\(:oglicht es, L\(:angenvorgaben f\(:ur die Zeilen der Gruppendatei einzuhalten\&. Damit kann sichergestellt werden, dass die Zeilen f\(:ur NIS\-Gruppen nicht l\(:anger als 1024 Zeichen sind\&.
.sp
Falls Sie eine solche Begrenzung ben\(:otigen, k\(:onnen Sie 25 verwenden\&.
.sp
Hinweis: Mit aufgeteilten Gruppen k\(:onnen m\(:oglicherweise nicht alle Hilfsprogramme (nicht einmal jene der Shadow\-Programmsammlung) umgehen\&. Sie sollten diese Variable nur setzen, wenn Sie sie wirklich ben\(:otigen\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBUSERDEL_CMD\fR (string)
.RS 4
falls angegeben, wird dieser Befehl ausgef\(:uhrt, wenn ein Benutzer entfernt wird\&. Damit k\(:onnen At\-, Cron\- und Druckauftr\(:age etc\&. des Benutzers (sein Name ist als erstes Argument zu \(:ubergeben) gel\(:oscht werden\&.
.sp
Der R\(:uckgabewert des Skripts bleibt unber\(:ucksichtigt\&.
.sp
Here is an example script, which removes the user\*(Aqs cron, at and print jobs:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
#! /bin/sh

# Check for the required argument\&.
if [ $# != 1 ]; then
	echo "Usage: $0 username"
	exit 1
fi

# Remove cron jobs\&.
crontab \-r \-u $1

# Remove at jobs\&.
# Note that it will remove any jobs owned by the same UID,
# even if it was shared by a different username\&.
AT_SPOOL_DIR=/var/spool/cron/atjobs
find $AT_SPOOL_DIR \-name "[^\&.]*" \-type f \-user $1 \-delete \e;

# Remove print jobs\&.
lprm $1

# All done\&.
exit 0
      
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.sp
.RE
.PP
\fBUSERGROUPS_ENAB\fR (boolean)
.RS 4
If set to
\fIyes\fR,
\fBuserdel\fR
will remove the user\*(Aqs group if it contains no more members, and
\fBuseradd\fR
will create by default a group with the name of the user\&.
.RE
.SH "DATEIEN"
.PP
/etc/group
.RS 4
Informationen zu den Gruppenkonten
.RE
.PP
/etc/login\&.defs
.RS 4
konfiguriert die Shadow\-Hilfsprogramme\&.
.RE
.PP
/etc/passwd
.RS 4
Informationen zu den Benutzerkonten
.RE
.PP
/etc/shadow
.RS 4
gesch\(:utzte Informationen zu den Benutzerkonten
.RE
.PP
/etc/shadow\-maint/userdel\-pre\&.d/*, /etc/shadow\-maint/userdel\-post\&.d/*
.RS 4
Run\-part files to execute during user deletion\&. The environment variable
\fBACTION\fR
will be populated with
\fBuserdel\fR
and
\fBSUBJECT\fR
with the username\&.
userdel\-pre\&.d
will be executed prior to any user deletion\&.
userdel\-post\&.d
will execute after user deletion\&. If a script exits non\-zero then execution will terminate\&.
.RE
.PP
/etc/subgid
.RS 4
enth\(:alt untergeordnete Gruppenkennungen der einzelnen Benutzer\&.
.RE
.PP
/etc/subuid
.RS 4
enth\(:alt untergeordnete Benutzerkennungen der einzelnen Benutzer\&.
.RE
.SH "R\(:UCKGABEWERTE"
.PP
The
\fBuserdel\fR
command exits with the following values:
.PP
\fI0\fR
.RS 4
success
.RE
.PP
\fI1\fR
.RS 4
can\*(Aqt update password file
.RE
.PP
\fI2\fR
.RS 4
invalid command syntax
.RE
.PP
\fI6\fR
.RS 4
specified user doesn\*(Aqt exist
.RE
.PP
\fI8\fR
.RS 4
user currently logged in
.RE
.PP
\fI10\fR
.RS 4
can\*(Aqt update group file
.RE
.PP
\fI12\fR
.RS 4
can\*(Aqt remove home directory
.RE
.SH "WARNUNGEN"
.PP
\fBuserdel\fR
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\*(Aqs password or account and remove the account later\&. The
\fB\-f\fR
option can force the deletion of this account\&.
.PP
Sie sollten von Hand alle Dateisysteme in Hinblick auf Dateien dieses Benutzers pr\(:ufen und sie gegebenenfalls l\(:oschen\&.
.PP
Sie d\(:urfen keine NIS\-Attribute auf einem NIS\-Client l\(:oschen\&. Dies muss auf dem NIS\-Server durchgef\(:uhrt werden\&.
.PP
If
\fBUSERGROUPS_ENAB\fR
is defined to
\fIyes\fR
in
/etc/login\&.defs,
\fBuserdel\fR
will delete the group with the same name as the user\&. To avoid inconsistencies in the passwd and group databases,
\fBuserdel\fR
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
\fB\-f\fR
option can force the deletion of this group\&.
.SH "SIEHE AUCH"
.PP
\fBchfn\fR(1),
\fBchsh\fR(1),
\fBpasswd\fR(1),
\fBlogin.defs\fR(5),
\fBgpasswd\fR(8),
\fBgroupadd\fR(8),
\fBgroupdel\fR(8),
\fBgroupmod\fR(8),
\fBsubgid\fR(5), \fBsubuid\fR(5),
\fBuseradd\fR(8),
\fBusermod\fR(8)\&.