---
name: "deluser.conf"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "adduser"
version: "3.152"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/deluser.conf"
---

# deluser.conf(5)

configuration file for deluser(8) and delgroup(8).

## NAME

/etc/deluser.conf - configuration file for [**deluser**(8)](/deluser/8.md) and [**delgroup**(8)](/delgroup/8.md).

## DESCRIPTION

The file */etc/deluser.conf* contains defaults for the programs **deluser(8)** and **delgroup(8).** Each line holds a single value pair in the form *option* = *value*. Double or single quotes are allowed around the value, as is whitespace around the equals sign. Comment lines must have a hash sign (#) in the first column.

[**deluser**(8)](/deluser/8.md) and [**delgroup**(8)](/delgroup/8.md) also read */etc/adduser.conf*, see [**adduser.conf**(5)](/adduser.conf/5.md); settings in *deluser.conf* may overwrite settings made in *adduser.conf*.

The valid configuration options are:

- **BACKUP**

  If **REMOVE\_HOME** or **REMOVE\_ALL\_FILES** is activated, all files are backed up before they are removed. The backup file that is created defaults to *username.tar(.gz\|.bz2)* in the directory specified by the **BACKUP\_TO** option. The compression method is chosen to the best that is available. Values may be 0 or 1. Defaults to *0*.

- **BACKUP\_SUFFIX**

  Select compression algorithm for a home directory backup. Can be set to any suffix recognized by **tar --auto-compress**. Defaults to *.gz*.

- **BACKUP\_TO**

  If **BACKUP** is activated, **BACKUP\_TO** specifies the directory the backup is written to. Defaults to the current directory.

- **EXCLUDE\_FSTYPES**

  A regular expression which describes all filesystem types which should be excluded when looking for files of a user to be deleted. Defaults to "(proc\|sysfs\|usbfs\|devtmpfs\|devpts\|afs)".

- **NO\_DEL\_PATHS**

  A list of regular expressions, space separated. All files to be deleted in course of deleting the home directory or user-owned files elsewhere are checked against each of these regular expressions. If a match is detected, the file is not deleted. Defaults to a list of system directories, leaving only */home*. Therefore only files below */home* belonging to that specific user are going to be deleted.

- **ONLY\_IF\_EMPTY**

  Only delete a group if there are no users belonging to this group. Defaults to 0.

- **REMOVE\_ALL\_FILES**

  Removes all files on the system owned by the user to be removed. If this option is activated **REMOVE\_HOME** has no effect. Values may be 0 or 1. Defaults to *0*.

- **REMOVE\_HOME**

  Removes the home directory and mail spool of the user to be removed. Value may be 0 (don't delete) or 1 (do delete). Defaults to *0*.

## FILES

*/etc/deluser.conf*

## SEE ALSO

[**adduser.conf**(5)](/adduser.conf/5.md), [**delgroup**(8)](/delgroup/8.md), [**deluser**(8)](/deluser/8.md)