Remove a Linux user with only his UID

Question

I would like to remove (or rename) an Ubuntu user I created but the usual solutions don't work as there is a question mark in the username.

$ sudo usermod -l myuser my?user
usermod: user 'my?user' does not exist

I tried with the usual quotes and/or a backslash before the question mark but to no avail.

Is there a way to remove a user based on his UID? That would be a solution as I don't need to enter the username.

Thanks!

Solution 1

Just delete the appropriate lines in /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow, and the home directory.

Solution 2

The '?' needs to be escaped. I've verified that the following works:

root@panic:/# useradd test?test
root@panic:/# userdel test\?test

Comments

[Cimm]

Didn't think about the shadow file. Cool, this worked, thanks!

[Cimm]

For future reference: It may be useful to check the /etc/group file as well, had the same typo there.

[Cimm]

Thanks Scott, I think Sven's solution is nicer. His solution makes it possible to change the username without removing.