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#1 2018-12-17 17:33:13

ua4000
Member
Registered: 2015-10-14
Posts: 402

[SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

I removed some installed packages with pacman -Rns some time ago.
While wandering through my system I found now some leftovers, which I had to clean-up by myself:

sudo userdel lxdm
sudo userdel sddm
sudo userdel dnsmasq

They were automatically created by those packages - I expected pacman to clean them up too while using -Rns ?

Did I miss something here ?

Thanks for all hints.

Last edited by ua4000 (2018-12-17 18:20:52)

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#2 2018-12-17 17:43:17

Trilby
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Registered: 2011-11-29
Posts: 29,442
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Re: [SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

Nope.  The users are created via a file in  /usr/lib/sysusers.d/ which belongs to the package.  At each boot, this file ensures the user exists, and instructs systemd to create it if it does not.  When you remove the package, this file is removed.  So from then on there will be nothing recreating the user if it is missing, but this does not remove the existing user.


"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" -  Richard Stallman

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#3 2018-12-17 17:50:38

ua4000
Member
Registered: 2015-10-14
Posts: 402

Re: [SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

Thanks very much for the clarification.
In case of sddm, the provided sddm.sysusers is the one which instructs systemd to create the "sddm" user ?

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#4 2018-12-17 17:59:35

loqs
Member
Registered: 2014-03-06
Posts: 17,192

Re: [SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

Yes usr/lib/sysusers.d/sddm.conf
See also https://www.archlinux.org/todo/usergroup-management/ and `man 8 systemd-sysusers`

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#5 2018-12-17 18:12:20

eschwartz
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Registered: 2014-08-08
Posts: 4,097

Re: [SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

We stopped doing userdel a long time ago due to https://www.archlinux.org/todo/usergroup-management/

tl;dr It's a security risk to remove the users automatically, and they don't really cause any harm.


Managing AUR repos The Right Way -- aurpublish (now a standalone tool)

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#6 2018-12-17 18:20:39

ua4000
Member
Registered: 2015-10-14
Posts: 402

Re: [SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

Thanks very much!

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#7 2018-12-17 18:21:50

Tarqi
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From: Ixtlan
Registered: 2012-11-27
Posts: 179
Website

Re: [SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

eschwartz wrote:

...they don't really cause any harm.

If you remove (for example) the git package, it causes to fail shadow.service, because /usr/bin/git-shell has been removed.

Last edited by Tarqi (2018-12-17 22:00:24)


Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment. ~Lao Tse

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#8 2018-12-17 22:59:15

Scimmia
Fellow
Registered: 2012-09-01
Posts: 11,461

Re: [SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

Tarqi wrote:
eschwartz wrote:

...they don't really cause any harm.

If you remove (for example) the git package, it causes to fail shadow.service, because /usr/bin/git-shell has been removed.

Which doesn't cause any harm.

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#9 2018-12-17 23:07:29

Tarqi
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From: Ixtlan
Registered: 2012-11-27
Posts: 179
Website

Re: [SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

Scimmia wrote:
Tarqi wrote:
eschwartz wrote:

...they don't really cause any harm.

If you remove (for example) the git package, it causes to fail shadow.service, because /usr/bin/git-shell has been removed.

Which doesn't cause any harm.

Instead of explaining why this is just your opinion: You've won, I'm out.

Last edited by Tarqi (2018-12-17 23:16:17)


Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment. ~Lao Tse

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#10 2018-12-17 23:39:18

Trilby
Inspector Parrot
Registered: 2011-11-29
Posts: 29,442
Website

Re: [SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

That was an odd reaction.  It was a simple statement of fact*.  If you wanted further clarification, ask for it.  Some of us around here are occasionally rather abrupt, but there was no way to interpret this comment of Scimmia's as anything of the sort.

*I.e., it was a factual statement that may be true or false.  If you have evidence that it is false - if you have seen harmful results - you'd certainly be welcome to disagree.

Last edited by Trilby (2018-12-17 23:43:27)


"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" -  Richard Stallman

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#11 2018-12-17 23:59:20

loqs
Member
Registered: 2014-03-06
Posts: 17,192

Re: [SOLVED] pacman -Rns doesn't invoke userdel ?

It could be argued that once such a situation has occurred there is not utility offered by shadow.service.

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