hpux 10.20 - userdel (1)

 NAME
      userdel - delete a user login from the system

 SYNOPSIS
      userdel [-r] login

 DESCRIPTION
      The userdel command deletes a user login from the system by modifying
      the appropriate login related files.

      The userdel command requires the login argument.  login is the name to
      be deleted, specified as a string of printable characters.  It may not
      contain a colon (:) or a newline (\n).

    Option
      The following option is available to this command:

           -r        The home directory of login is removed from the system.
                     This directory must exist.  Following the successful
                     execution of this command, none of the files and
                     directories under the home directory will be available.

 NETWORKING FEATURES
    NIS
      This command is aware of NIS user and group entries.  Only local users
      and groups may be deleted or modified with this command.  Attempts to
      delete or modify NIS users or groups will result in an error.  NIS
      users and groups must be administered from the NIS server.  The
      userdel command may fail with the error

           login x does not exist

      (return value 6) if the user specified is an NIS user (see passwd(4)).
      The error

           Cannot modify /etc/group file, /etc/passwd was

      (return value 10) is returned if a local user belongs to an NIS group
      (see group(4)).

    NFS
      Errors may occur with the -r option if the affected directory is
      within an NFS mounted file system that does not allow root privileges
      across the NFS mount, and the directory or files within the directory
      do not have sufficient permissions.

 RETURN VALUES
      userdel exits with one of the following values:

           0    Successful completion.


           2    Invalid command syntax.

           3    Invalid argument supplied to an option.

           6    The login to be removed does not exist.

           8    The login to be removed is in use.

           10   Cannot modify the /etc/group file, but the login was removed
                from the /etc/passwd file.

           12   Unable to remove or modify the home directory.

           13   Unable to open /etc/ptmp file or /etc/passwd file is non-
                existent.

           14   /etc/passwd file or /etc/ptmp file busy.  Another command
                may be modifying the /etc/passwd file.

           17   Cannot delete entry from /etc/passwd file.

 EXAMPLES
      Remove the user otto from the system:

           userdel otto

      Remove the user bob from the system and delete bob's home directory
      from the system:

           userdel -r bob

 WARNINGS
      As many users may try to write the /etc/passwd file simultaneously, a
      passwd locking mechanism was deviced.  If this locking fails after
      subsequent retrying, userdel terminates.

 FILES
      /etc/passwd
      /etc/group
      /etc/ptmp

 SEE ALSO
      passwd(1), users(1), groupadd(1M), groupdel(1M), groupmod(1M),
      logins(1M), passwd(1M), useradd(1M), usermod(1M), group(4).

 STANDARDS COMPLIANCE
      userdel: SVID3