userdel(1M)                                              userdel(1M)


       NAME
             userdel - delete a user's login from the system

       SYNOPSIS
             userdel [-r] [-n months] login

       DESCRIPTION
             The userdel command deletes a user's login definition from the
             system.  It removes the definition of the specified login and
             makes the appropriate login-related system file and file
             system changes.  The command also stores the user
             identification number (UID) being deleted in the
             /etc/security/ia/ageduid file, so the UID will not be reused
             until a period of time has passed.  This practice of keeping a
             UID out of use is called UID aging.

             The following options are available:

             -r    Remove the user's home directory from the system.  This
                   directory must exist.  The files and directories under
                   the home directory will no longer be accessible
                   following successful execution of the command.  Note
                   that the user's home directory may not be removed if the
                   pathname of the home directory is administered through
                   the Network Information Service (NIS) and NIS is
                   unavailable at the time you delete the user's entry.

             -n months
                   Specify a value for the number of months to age the UID.
                   Specify -1 to indicate the UID should never be reused.
                   Specify 0 to indicate the UID may be reused immediately.
                   If the -n option is not specified, the UID will be aged
                   for a default number of months before it will be reused.

             login A string of printable characters that specifies an
                   existing login on the system.  It may not contain a
                   colon (:) or a newline (\n).
             If login is being administered by the Network Information
             Service (NIS), login will only be removed from the local
             system, not the NIS database.

          Warnings
             Whenever you use the userdel command to delete a users's
             login, you should execute adminuser -d login_name to avoid
             creating any security holes; otherwise security breaches will
             be introduced when you remove logins for users who have been


                           Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 1

      userdel(1M)                                              userdel(1M)


            added to the TFM database.  Use the desktop metaphor to remove
            users who have been added through the metaphor.

            Not all users have privileges but desktop users usually do.
            If a user whose login is being removed has no privileges and
            you execute adminuser -d, you'll simply get an error message
            (UX:adminuser:ERROR:Undefined user login_name).

      FILES
            /etc/default/userdel
            /etc/group
            /etc/passwd
            /etc/security/ia/ageduid
            /etc/security/ia/audit
            /etc/security/ia/index
            /etc/security/ia/master
            /etc/shadow

            The file /etc/security/ia/audit is not available if the
            Auditing Utilities are not installed.

      REFERENCES
            adminuser(1M), dtdeluser(1M), groupadd(1M), groupdel(1M),
            groupmod(1M), logins(1M), passwd(1), useradd(1M), usermod(1M),
            users(1BSD)

      DIAGNOSTICS
            The userdel command exits with a return code of 0 upon
            successful completion.  In case of errors, the following
            messages may be displayed:

                  Invalid command syntax.

                  The login to be removed does not exist.

                  The login to be removed is in use.

                  Cannot update the /etc/group file but the login is
                  removed from the /etc/passwd file.

                  Cannot remove or otherwise modify the home directory.







                          Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 2