Sometimes it can happen that user profiles within a web catalog become corrupted for any number of reasons. In order for these user profiles to be correctly re-initialized, there’s more to be done than just drop /users/JohnDoe from the web catalog.

All in all there are three distinct places which need to be cleaned:

• /users/JohnDoe
• /system/security/users/123456
• /system/security/acocuntids/987654

This is really important since especially the third place contains the translation between the userid and the effective GUID of the user. I’ve written a little script which takes the absolute path to the web catalog in question as well as the user to be purged and kills everything that’s necessary.

NOTE: This is a quick&dirty solution and I haven’t fool-proofed it with any check like “does the folder exist” etc. so use it cautiously and on your own risk.

I may get around to rendering it safer later-on, but since I was asked for it once more just today I thought I’d put it out there.

#

########################################################################################

# Step 1: Kill the users personal folder
plus content with its accompagning .atr       #

########################################################################################

cd $1/root/users

find -type d -name $2 | xargs rm -rf

find -name $2.atr | xargs rm -f

########################################################################################

# Step 2: Kill the users entries in
/system/security/users
#

# Two files will be affected “username”
and “username.atr”
#

# Removal happens one-by-one

#

########################################################################################

cd $1/root/system/security/users

find -name $2 | xargs rm -f

find -name $2.atr | xargs rm -f

########################################################################################

# Step 3: Kill the users entries in
/system/security/accountids
#

# Two files will be affected. Accountids
contains the translation from GUID to         #

# username, so the actual username
resides within the files content rather than its    #

# name. Bulk removal.

#

########################################################################################

cd $1/root/system/security/accountids

grep -r -l $2 . | xargs rm -f

echo User $2 has been purged from the
web catalog.

exit 0