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userdel

Used to delete a given user and files related to the user.

Description

The userdel command is used to delete a given user and files related to the user. If no options are added, only the user account is deleted, and related files are not removed.

Syntax

userdel (option) (parameter)

Options

-f: Force the removal of the user, even if the user is currently logged in;
-r: Remove all files related to the user while deleting the user.

Parameters

Username: The username to be deleted.

Examples

The userdel command is simple. For example, if we have a user linuxde whose home directory is located in the /var directory, let's delete this user:

userdel linuxde       # Delete user linuxde, but do not delete their home directory and files;
userdel -r linuxde    # Delete user linuxde, and delete their home directory and files together;

Please do not use the -r option lightly; it will delete all the user's files and directories. Remember to back up if there are important files in the user directory before deleting.

Actually, there is a simplest way, but it is somewhat unsafe, which is to directly delete the record of the user you want to delete in /etc/passwd. However, it is best not to do this as /etc/passwd is an extremely important file, and you might make a mistake.