Deleting a User Account

	Note
	There are ways to retain the files associated with an account, but any files that are deleted are gone and effectively unrecoverable. Take care when using this option!

To delete an account:

• Open Config => Users accounts => Normal => User accounts.

• On the User accounts screen (see Figure 14-4), select the account you wish to delete.

• At the bottom of the User information screen, select Del to delete the account.

Linuxconf will then prompt you with a list of options.

The default option is to archive the account's data. The archive option has the following effects:

1. It removes the user from the user accounts list.

2. It takes everything contained in the user's home directory and archives it (using tar and gzip compression), storing the resulting file in the /default_home_directory/oldaccounts directory. For an account named useraccount the filename would be similar to:

   useraccount-2000-01-10-497.tar.gz

   The date indicates when the account was deleted, and the number following it is the ID of the process that actually performed the deletion. The oldaccounts directory, created automatically the first time you remove a user account this way, is put in the same place as all of your user directories.

3. Files not contained in the user's home directory, but owned by that user remain. The file is owned by the deleted account's user ID (UID). If you create a new account and specifically assign it the UID of a deleted account, it will then become the owner of any remaining files.

Selecting Delete the account's data on the Deleting account <accountname> screen (see Figure 14-6) will:

1. Remove the user from the user accounts list.

2. Remove the user's home directory and all its contents.

	Note
	Files not contained in the user's home directory, but owned by that user, will remain on the system. The file will still be owned by the deleted account's user ID (UID). If you create a new account and specifically assign it the UID of a deleted account, it will then become the owner of any such "orphaned" files.

Selecting Leave the account's data in place on the Deleting account <accountname> screen (see Figure 14-6) will:

1. Remove the user from the user accounts list.

2. Leave the user's home directory (with all its files) in place.

	Note
	Files and directories owned by the deleted account's user ID (UID) will remain on the system. If you create a new account and specifically assign it the UID of a deleted account, it will then become the owner of these "orphaned" files.