How to delete a user & its home folder safely?
to list all users :
cut -d: -f1 /etc/passwd
To remove user :
sudo userdel username
To remove home directory :
sudo rm -r /home/username
To add a home directory to an existing user :
create a home directory
chown this directory for the user
sudo usermod -d /home/directory user
You can use the more advanced deluser
command:
sudo deluser --remove-home user
You can also try the the --remove-all-files
option. From man deluser
:
By default, deluser will remove the user without removing the home
directory, the mail spool or any other files on the system owned by
the user. Removing the home directory and mail spool can be achieved
using the --remove-home option.
The --remove-all-files option removes all files on the system owned by
the user. Note that if you activate both options --remove-home will
have no effect because all files including the home directory and mail
spool are already covered by the --remove-all-files option.
As can be expected, the second option may take a while to complete.
Best way is to use the OPTIONS
provided by the userdel
command.
sudo userdel -rfRZ <username>
This will:
Force delete
Files in the user's home directory will be removed along with the home directory itself and the user's mail spool. Files located in other file systems will have to be searched for and deleted manually.
Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the CHROOT_DIR directory.
Remove any SELinux user mapping for the user's login.
Hope this helps!