Linux userdel Command with Practical Examples

Introduction

In this lab, we will learn how to use the userdel command in Linux to delete user accounts, including removing their home directory and mail spool. We will cover the basic usage of the userdel command, how to delete a user account, and how to remove the user's home directory and mail spool. This lab focuses on user and permission management, a crucial aspect of Linux system administration.

The userdel command is used to remove user accounts from the system. By default, it does not remove the user's home directory and mail spool, but you can use the -r option to do so. We will demonstrate the usage of the userdel command with practical examples.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet

Skills Graph

Understand the userdel Command

In this step, we will learn about the userdel command in Linux, which is used to delete user accounts from the system.

The userdel command removes the specified user account and related files. By default, it does not remove the user's home directory and mail spool. To remove the home directory and mail spool, you need to use the -r option.

Let's explore the basic usage of the userdel command:

sudo userdel [options] username

Common options for the userdel command:

• -r: Remove the home directory and mail spool of the user.
• -f: Force the removal of the user account, even if the user is currently logged in.
• -Z: Remove the security context of the user.

Example:

sudo userdel -r testuser

Example output:

Removing user 'testuser'...
Removing home directory '/home/testuser'...

In this example, we delete the user account testuser and remove their home directory.

Delete a User Account

In this step, we will learn how to delete a user account using the userdel command.

First, let's create a new user account to practice with:

sudo useradd -m testuser

Now, let's delete the testuser account:

sudo userdel testuser

Example output:

Removing user 'testuser'...

By default, the userdel command only removes the user account, but not the user's home directory or mail spool. If you want to remove the user's home directory and mail spool, you can use the -r option:

sudo userdel -r testuser

Example output:

Removing user 'testuser'...
Removing home directory '/home/testuser'...

In this example, the testuser account and their home directory are removed.

Remove User's Home Directory and Mail Spool

In this step, we will learn how to remove a user's home directory and mail spool when deleting a user account.

By default, the userdel command does not remove the user's home directory and mail spool. To remove them, you need to use the -r option.

Let's create a new user account and then delete it with the -r option:

sudo useradd -m testuser
sudo userdel -r testuser

Example output:

Removing user 'testuser'...
Removing home directory '/home/testuser'...

In this example, the testuser account is deleted, and their home directory /home/testuser is also removed.

If the user has a mail spool, it will be removed as well. The mail spool is typically located in the /var/spool/mail/ directory, named after the username.

You can verify the removal of the user's home directory and mail spool by checking the respective directories:

ls -l /home
ls -l /var/spool/mail

The output should not show any trace of the deleted user's home directory or mail spool.

Summary

In this lab, we learned about the userdel command in Linux, which is used to delete user accounts from the system. We explored the basic usage of the userdel command, including the common options such as -r to remove the user's home directory and mail spool, and -f to force the removal of the user account even if the user is currently logged in. We then practiced deleting a user account and removing the user's home directory and mail spool. The key learning points from this lab are understanding the userdel command and its options, and how to effectively delete user accounts and their associated files.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet