To delete a user in Linux, you can use userdel command. Refer below syntax:
$ userdel [options]
Example:
$ userdel anil
To remove the user’s home directory pass the -r option to userdel:
$ userdel -r anil
Default values of userdel command are taken from configuration file /etc/login.defs for RHEL (Red Hat) based distributions. Debian and Ubuntu Linux based system use /etc/deluser.conf file:
# /etc/deluser.conf: deluser configuration – Debian / Ubuntu Linux only.
# Remove home directory and mail spool when the user is removed
REMOVE_HOME = 0
# Remove all files on the system owned by the user to be removed
REMOVE_ALL_FILES = 0
# Backup files before removing them. This option has only an effect if
# REMOVE_HOME or REMOVE_ALL_FILES is set.
BACKUP = 0
#The target directory for the backup file
BACKUP_TO = “.”
# delete a group even there are still users in this group
ONLY_IF_EMPTY = 0
# exclude these filesystem types when searching for files of a user to backup
EXCLUDE_FSTYPES = “(proc|sysfs|usbfs|devpts|tmpfs)”