HELP! Unable to update hosting preferences: system user update is failed: User exists

[bppilot]

I previously had a domain with the FTP Login name of xyz specified on the account login page. That domain was deleted, but it looks like the xyz account remained. I'm receiving the error message:

Unable to update hosting preferences: system user update is failed: User xyz already exists.

Does anyone know the exact steps on how to correct this? I've tried to access mysql to delete the user but I haven't been successful (I have close to no idea how exactly to use mysql!).

Thanks so much for your help and suggestions!

 

[durandjm]

I previously had a domain with the FTP Login name of xyz specified on the account login page. That domain was deleted, but it looks like the xyz account remained. I'm receiving the error message:

Unable to update hosting preferences: system user update is failed: User xyz already exists.

Does anyone know the exact steps on how to correct this? I've tried to access mysql to delete the user but I haven't been successful (I have close to no idea how exactly to use mysql!).

Thanks so much for your help and suggestions!

I had this same problem on 8.3, and I really wanted that username back. I have discovered that the offending information was kept in the following tables: psa.sys_users and psa.accounts.

As a warning, I don't know if this is the official correct way to fix this.

So I did the following:

mysql> USE DATABASE psa;
mysql> SELECT * FROM sys_users WHERE login='xyz';

You'll see:

+----+---------+------------+---------------------------+------------+-------+
| id | login | account_id | home | shell | quota |
+----+---------+------------+---------------------------+------------+-------+
| 2 | xyz | 6 | /var/www/vhosts/xyz | /bin/false | 0 |
+----+---------+------------+---------------------------+------------+-------+

Then take note of the id and account_id and replace it into the next commands.

mysql> DELETE FROM sys_users WHERE id = <id>;
mysql> DELETE FROM accounts WHERE id = <account_id>;

And that should do it for you. It did for me, at least.

Ah, oh yes, and then I also removed the xyz user from /etc/passwd[-]|group[-]|shadow[-] files and deleted /var/www/vhosts/xyz before I did the client+domain addition again.

 

[teenaj]

Thanks

The above suggestion worked for me. I have virtual dedicated server from Godaddy and they were not providing any support. After spending 2 days, I found the above thread and I followed step by step instructions and voila I got my files restored. Thanks a lot.
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