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Unit 4: Configuring Desktop

4.3 managing users notes

Almost all Linux distribution comes with its own set of GUI tools to manage users and groups.

Example:
1. Red Hat comes with redhat-config-user
2. Suse comes with Yast

3. Debian Linux and other distro come with users-admin GUI tool set
4. FreeBSD with sysinstall
5. Solaris comes with Solaris Management Centre (SMC)

command Line user management

Command line utilities let you create, modify, delete, and list both user and group accounts.

user info

The id command prints information for a certain user. Use it like this:
# id usernameCreate a user

to create a new user

# useradd -c “My Example User” username
# passwd username

The created user is initially in an inactive state. To activate the user you have to assign a password
with passwd. Some useful useradd options include the following:
-c : sets a comment for the user.
-s : is used in order to define the user’s default login shell. If not used, then the system’s default
shell becomes the user’s default login shell.
-r : creates a user with UID<500 (system account)
-d : sets the user’s home directory. If not used, the default home directory is created (/home/
username/)
-M : the home directory is not created. This is useful when the directory already exists.
To create a user that does not have the ability to login to a shell, issue the following commands:
# useradd -c “This user cannot login to a shell” -s /sbin/nologin username

# passwd username
Change the User’s Password

To change a user’s password:
# passwd username
If it’s used without specifying a username, then the currently logged in user’s password is
changed.

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