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removehome

removehome is a small utility script, primarily found in Unix‑like operating systems that use the adduser package, designed to delete a user’s home directory and its contents when the associated user account is removed. The script is typically invoked automatically by administrative tools such as userdel or the adduser front‑end, rather than being run directly by end users. Its main purpose is to provide a safe and standardized way to clean up residual files after a user account is no longer needed, helping to reclaim disk space and reduce the risk of orphaned data.

The typical operation of removehome proceeds as follows: when a user deletion request includes the “remove

Key features of removehome include:

• Automatic execution as part of userdel –r and adduser options.

• Safety checks to avoid deleting non‑user data, such as confirming ownership and directory paths.

• Compatibility with custom home‑directory layouts through configuration settings.

• Logging of removal actions for audit trails.

Security considerations advise administrators to confirm that the username supplied to removehome matches the intended account,

home”
flag
(for
example,
userdel
‑r
username),
the
system
calls
removehome
with
the
target
username
as
an
argument.
The
script
verifies
that
the
home
directory
exists,
checks
that
it
is
owned
by
the
named
user,
and
then
recursively
deletes
the
directory
tree
using
a
secure
removal
method
such
as
rm
‑rf
while
preserving
system
logs
of
the
action.
Some
implementations
also
honour
a
configuration
file
(often
/etc/adduser.conf)
that
can
disable
automatic
removal
or
specify
alternate
home‑directory
locations.
as
accidental
invocation
could
lead
to
irreversible
data
loss.
The
utility
is
typically
packaged
with
the
adduser
suite
in
Debian‑based
distributions
and
may
be
absent
on
systems
that
use
alternative
account‑management
tools.
Related
commands
include
userdel
(with
the
‑r
option),
deluser,
and
the
adduser
configuration
script
that
determines
default
behaviors
for
home‑directory
handling.