[SOLVED] What happens to files if owner is deleted

XXLRay · 07-04-2011, 05:54 AM

I want to delete a user but need to keep the data he created. What happens to the files of a user e.g. in a project folder used by multiple user when he is deleted. Are the files deleted to or are they automatically assigned to a new user?

colucix · 07-04-2011, 06:00 AM

The files will be preserved and will retain the user ID of the owner. Suppose user john has uID 501 and gID 100 = users, after deletion of user john you will see:

Code:

-rw-r--r--  1 tom users     3342 Jun 13 09:47 file1
-rw-r--r--  1 501 users     5072 Jun 13 09:47 file2

The only things that will be deleted (unless you decide to keep them) are the user's home directory and the user's mailbox.

TobiSGD · 07-04-2011, 06:00 AM

Best method would be to chown the files to another user before deleting that user.
To your question, the files will not be deleted. Although the user is deleted the files will still belong to that users UID.

XXLRay · 07-04-2011, 06:06 AM

Thank you. That was all I needed to know.

jefro · 07-04-2011, 04:51 PM

The group or root will or should still have access.

Where the files are may be important. If you delete the user and the files on in the users home the files may be deleted.