Remove users

Remove users who no longer need access to the workspace.

Required permissions

Removing users requires staff or superuser privileges.

Deletion types

Alpacon provides two types of user deletion:

Normal deletion

Normal user deletion removes the user’s account while preserving their home directory on servers.

What happens:

  • User account deleted from workspace
  • Home directory on servers moved to /home/deleted_users/
  • Directory ownership transferred to root user
  • Directory permissions set to 0700

Use when:

  • Need to preserve user data for audit or recovery
  • Want option to restore files later
  • Compliance requires data retention

Purge deletion

Purge deletion completely removes the user and all associated data from servers. To use this option, check the Delete home directory checkbox in the deletion modal.

What happens:

  • User account deleted from workspace
  • Home directory on servers permanently deleted
  • All user files removed

⚠️ Warning: Cannot be recovered. Use with extreme caution.

Use when:

  • User data no longer needed
  • Compliance requires complete data removal
  • Freeing up disk space

How to remove

From user detail page

  1. Go to IAM > Users
  2. Click the user to remove
  3. Click bin icon in top right
  4. Select deletion type: Delete home directory checkbox
    • Unchecked: Normal deletion (preserve home directory)
    • Checked: Purge deletion (complete deletion)
  5. Click Continue in confirmation modal
  6. View result in toast message

Pre-removal checklist

Data impact

User removal permanently deletes:

  • User profile information
  • Group memberships
  • Permission settings
  • Activity history

Caution: Cannot be recovered after deletion

Server access

  • User automatically removed from accessible servers
  • Linux account on servers is not automatically deleted
  • Manually remove account from servers if needed

Owned resources

Check resources owned by user:

  • If server owner
  • If group admin
  • If webhook owner

Transfer ownership to another user if needed.

Delete your own account

Users can delete their own account as follows:

  1. Leave workspace
  2. Delete Alpacon account

Removing Superusers

Considerations when removing Superusers:

Maintain minimum 1 Superuser:

  • Workspace always needs at least 1 Superuser
  • Cannot remove last Superuser
  • Promote another user to Superuser first

After removal

After user removal:

  • User excluded from workspace list
  • No email notification sent
  • Can be re-invited with same email

Deactivate vs Remove

ActionEffectRecovery
DeactivateBlock login, keep dataCan reactivate
RemoveComplete deletion, data permanentCannot recover

Recommended: Use deactivation for temporary access restriction

Troubleshooting

Remove button disabled:

  • Verify Staff or Superuser permissions
  • Check if last Superuser

“Cannot delete last superuser” error:

  • Promote another user to Superuser first
  • Then proceed with removal

Audit log

User removal is logged in audit logs:

  • Admin who removed
  • Removal time
  • Removed user information