Use `DeleteUser` with an AWS SDK or command line tool

The following code examples show how to use DeleteUser.

Action examples are code excerpts from larger programs and must be run in context. You can see this action in context in the following code examples:

.NET

AWS SDK for .NET

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.


    /// <summary>
    /// Delete an IAM user.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="userName">The username of the IAM user to delete.</param>
    /// <returns>A Boolean value indicating the success of the action.</returns>
    public async Task<bool> DeleteUserAsync(string userName)
    {
        var response = await _IAMService.DeleteUserAsync(new DeleteUserRequest { UserName = userName });

        return response.HttpStatusCode == System.Net.HttpStatusCode.OK;
    }

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for .NET API Reference.

Bash

AWS CLI with Bash script

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.


###############################################################################
# function iecho
#
# This function enables the script to display the specified text only if
# the global variable $VERBOSE is set to true.
###############################################################################
function iecho() {
  if [[ $VERBOSE == true ]]; then
    echo "$@"
  fi
}

###############################################################################
# function errecho
#
# This function outputs everything sent to it to STDERR (standard error output).
###############################################################################
function errecho() {
  printf "%s\n" "$*" 1>&2
}

###############################################################################
# function iam_delete_user
#
# This function deletes the specified IAM user.
#
# Parameters:
#       -u user_name  -- The name of the user to create.
#
# Returns:
#       0 - If successful.
#       1 - If it fails.
###############################################################################
function iam_delete_user() {
  local user_name response
  local option OPTARG # Required to use getopts command in a function.

  # bashsupport disable=BP5008
  function usage() {
    echo "function iam_delete_user"
    echo "Deletes an WS Identity and Access Management (IAM) user. You must supply a username:"
    echo "  -u user_name    The name of the user."
    echo ""
  }

  # Retrieve the calling parameters.
  while getopts "u:h" option; do
    case "${option}" in
      u) user_name="${OPTARG}" ;;
      h)
        usage
        return 0
        ;;
      \?)
        echo "Invalid parameter"
        usage
        return 1
        ;;
    esac
  done
  export OPTIND=1

  if [[ -z "$user_name" ]]; then
    errecho "ERROR: You must provide a username with the -u parameter."
    usage
    return 1
  fi

  iecho "Parameters:\n"
  iecho "    User name:   $user_name"
  iecho ""

  # If the user does not exist, we don't want to try to delete it.
  if (! iam_user_exists "$user_name"); then
    errecho "ERROR: A user with that name does not exist in the account."
    return 1
  fi

  response=$(aws iam delete-user \
    --user-name "$user_name")

  local error_code=${?}

  if [[ $error_code -ne 0 ]]; then
    aws_cli_error_log $error_code
    errecho "ERROR: AWS reports delete-user operation failed.$response"
    return 1
  fi

  iecho "delete-user response:$response"
  iecho

  return 0
}

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS CLI Command Reference.

C++

SDK for C++

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.


    Aws::IAM::IAMClient iam(clientConfig);

    Aws::IAM::Model::DeleteUserRequest request;
    request.SetUserName(userName);
    auto outcome = iam.DeleteUser(request);
    if (!outcome.IsSuccess()) {
        std::cerr << "Error deleting IAM user " << userName << ": " <<
                  outcome.GetError().GetMessage() << std::endl;;
    }
    else {
        std::cout << "Successfully deleted IAM user " << userName << std::endl;
    }

    return outcome.IsSuccess();

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for C++ API Reference.

CLI

AWS CLI

To delete an IAM user

The following delete-user command removes the IAM user named Bob from the current account.


aws iam delete-user \
    --user-name Bob

This command produces no output.

For more information, see Deleting an IAM user in the AWS IAM User Guide.

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS CLI Command Reference.

Go

SDK for Go V2

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.



// UserWrapper encapsulates user actions used in the examples.
// It contains an IAM service client that is used to perform user actions.
type UserWrapper struct {
	IamClient *iam.Client
}



// DeleteUser deletes a user.
func (wrapper UserWrapper) DeleteUser(userName string) error {
	_, err := wrapper.IamClient.DeleteUser(context.TODO(), &iam.DeleteUserInput{
		UserName: aws.String(userName),
	})
	if err != nil {
		log.Printf("Couldn't delete user %v. Here's why: %v\n", userName, err)
	}
	return err
}

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for Go API Reference.

Java

SDK for Java 2.x

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.


import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.iam.IamClient;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.iam.model.DeleteUserRequest;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.iam.model.IamException;

/**
 * Before running this Java V2 code example, set up your development
 * environment, including your credentials.
 *
 * For more information, see the following documentation topic:
 *
 * https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-java/latest/developer-guide/get-started.html
 */
public class DeleteUser {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        final String usage = """

                Usage:
                    <userName>\s

                Where:
                    userName - The name of the user to delete.\s
                """;

        if (args.length != 1) {
            System.out.println(usage);
            System.exit(1);
        }

        String userName = args[0];
        Region region = Region.AWS_GLOBAL;
        IamClient iam = IamClient.builder()
                .region(region)
                .build();

        deleteIAMUser(iam, userName);
        System.out.println("Done");
        iam.close();
    }

    public static void deleteIAMUser(IamClient iam, String userName) {
        try {
            DeleteUserRequest request = DeleteUserRequest.builder()
                    .userName(userName)
                    .build();

            iam.deleteUser(request);
            System.out.println("Successfully deleted IAM user " + userName);

        } catch (IamException e) {
            System.err.println(e.awsErrorDetails().errorMessage());
            System.exit(1);
        }
    }
}

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for Java 2.x API Reference.

JavaScript

SDK for JavaScript (v3)

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.

Delete the user.


import { DeleteUserCommand, IAMClient } from "@aws-sdk/client-iam";

const client = new IAMClient({});

/**
 *
 * @param {string} name
 */
export const deleteUser = (name) => {
  const command = new DeleteUserCommand({ UserName: name });
  return client.send(command);
};

For more information, see AWS SDK for JavaScript Developer Guide.
For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for JavaScript API Reference.

SDK for JavaScript (v2)

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.


// Load the AWS SDK for Node.js
var AWS = require("aws-sdk");
// Set the region
AWS.config.update({ region: "REGION" });

// Create the IAM service object
var iam = new AWS.IAM({ apiVersion: "2010-05-08" });

var params = {
  UserName: process.argv[2],
};

iam.getUser(params, function (err, data) {
  if (err && err.code === "NoSuchEntity") {
    console.log("User " + process.argv[2] + " does not exist.");
  } else {
    iam.deleteUser(params, function (err, data) {
      if (err) {
        console.log("Error", err);
      } else {
        console.log("Success", data);
      }
    });
  }
});

For more information, see AWS SDK for JavaScript Developer Guide.
For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for JavaScript API Reference.

Kotlin

SDK for Kotlin

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.


suspend fun deleteIAMUser(userNameVal: String) {

    val request = DeleteUserRequest {
        userName = userNameVal
    }

    // To delete a user, ensure that the user's access keys are deleted first.
    IamClient { region = "AWS_GLOBAL" }.use { iamClient ->
        iamClient.deleteUser(request)
        println("Successfully deleted user $userNameVal")
    }
}

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for Kotlin API reference.

PowerShell

Tools for PowerShell

Example 1: This example deletes the IAM user named Bob.


Remove-IAMUser -UserName Bob

Example 2: This example deletes the IAM user named Theresa along with any elements that must be deleted first.


$name = "Theresa"

# find any groups and remove user from them
$groups = Get-IAMGroupForUser -UserName $name
foreach ($group in $groups) { Remove-IAMUserFromGroup -GroupName $group.GroupName -UserName $name -Force }

# find any inline policies and delete them
$inlinepols = Get-IAMUserPolicies -UserName $name
foreach ($pol in $inlinepols) { Remove-IAMUserPolicy -PolicyName $pol -UserName $name -Force}

# find any managed polices and detach them
$managedpols = Get-IAMAttachedUserPolicies -UserName $name
foreach ($pol in $managedpols) { Unregister-IAMUserPolicy -PolicyArn $pol.PolicyArn -UserName $name }

# find any signing certificates and delete them
$certs = Get-IAMSigningCertificate -UserName $name
foreach ($cert in $certs) { Remove-IAMSigningCertificate -CertificateId $cert.CertificateId -UserName $name -Force }

# find any access keys and delete them
$keys = Get-IAMAccessKey -UserName $name
foreach ($key in $keys) { Remove-IAMAccessKey -AccessKeyId $key.AccessKeyId -UserName $name -Force }

# delete the user's login profile, if one exists - note: need to use try/catch to suppress not found error
try { $prof = Get-IAMLoginProfile -UserName $name -ea 0 } catch { out-null }
if ($prof) { Remove-IAMLoginProfile -UserName $name -Force }

# find any MFA device, detach it, and if virtual, delete it.
$mfa = Get-IAMMFADevice -UserName $name
if ($mfa) { 
    Disable-IAMMFADevice -SerialNumber $mfa.SerialNumber -UserName $name 
    if ($mfa.SerialNumber -like "arn:*") { Remove-IAMVirtualMFADevice -SerialNumber $mfa.SerialNumber }
}

# finally, remove the user
Remove-IAMUser -UserName $name -Force

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference.

Python

SDK for Python (Boto3)

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.


def delete_user(user_name):
    """
    Deletes a user. Before a user can be deleted, all associated resources,
    such as access keys and policies, must be deleted or detached.

    :param user_name: The name of the user.
    """
    try:
        iam.User(user_name).delete()
        logger.info("Deleted user %s.", user_name)
    except ClientError:
        logger.exception("Couldn't delete user %s.", user_name)
        raise

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for Python (Boto3) API Reference.

Ruby

SDK for Ruby

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.


  # Deletes a user and their associated resources
  #
  # @param user_name [String] The name of the user to delete
  def delete_user(user_name)
    user = @iam_client.list_access_keys(user_name: user_name).access_key_metadata
    user.each do |key|
      @iam_client.delete_access_key({ access_key_id: key.access_key_id, user_name: user_name })
      @logger.info("Deleted access key #{key.access_key_id} for user '#{user_name}'.")
    end

    @iam_client.delete_user(user_name: user_name)
    @logger.info("Deleted user '#{user_name}'.")
  rescue Aws::IAM::Errors::ServiceError => e
    @logger.error("Error deleting user '#{user_name}': #{e.message}")
  end

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for Ruby API Reference.

Rust

SDK for Rust

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.


pub async fn delete_user(client: &iamClient, user: &User) -> Result<(), SdkError<DeleteUserError>> {
    let user = user.clone();
    let mut tries: i32 = 0;
    let max_tries: i32 = 10;

    let response: Result<(), SdkError<DeleteUserError>> = loop {
        match client
            .delete_user()
            .user_name(user.user_name())
            .send()
            .await
        {
            Ok(_) => {
                break Ok(());
            }
            Err(e) => {
                tries += 1;
                if tries > max_tries {
                    break Err(e);
                }
                sleep(Duration::from_secs(2)).await;
            }
        }
    };

    response
}

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for Rust API reference.

Swift

SDK for Swift

Note

This is prerelease documentation for an SDK in preview release. It is subject to change.

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.


    public func deleteUser(user: IAMClientTypes.User) async throws {
        let input = DeleteUserInput(
            userName: user.userName
        )
        do {
            _ = try await iamClient.deleteUser(input: input)
        } catch {
            throw error
        }
    }

For API details, see DeleteUser in AWS SDK for Swift API reference.

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Document Conventions

DeleteSigningCertificate

DeleteUserPermissionsBoundary

Use DeleteUser with an AWS SDK or command line tool

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Use `DeleteUser` with an AWS SDK or command line tool