Penguin
Annotated edit history of useradd(8) version 1, including all changes. View license author blame.
Rev Author # Line
1 perry 1 USERADD
2 !!!USERADD
3 NAME
4 SYNOPSIS
5 DESCRIPTION
6 NOTES
7 CAVEATS
8 FILES
9 SEE ALSO
10 AUTHOR
11 ----
12 !!NAME
13
14
15 useradd - Create a new user or update default new user information
16 !!SYNOPSIS
17
18
19 __useradd__
20
21
22 [[__-c__ ''comment''] [[__-d__ ''home_dir'']
23 [[__-e__ ''expire_date''] [[__-f__
24 ''inactive_time'']
25 [[__-g__ ''initial_group''] [[__-G__
26 ''group''[[,...]]
27 [[__-m__ [[__-k__ ''skeleton_dir'']] [[__-p__
28 ''passwd'']
29 [[__-s__ ''shell''] [[__-u__ ''uid'' [[ __-o__]]
30 ''login''
31
32
33 __useradd__
34
35
36 __-D__ [[__-g__ ''default_group''] [[__-b__
37 ''default_home'']
38 [[__-f__ ''default_inactive''] [[__-e__
39 ''default_expire_date'']
40 [[__-s__ ''default_shell'']
41 !!DESCRIPTION
42
43
44 __Creating New Users__
45
46
47 When invoked without the __-D__ option, the
48 __useradd__ command creates a new user account using the
49 values specified on the command line and the default values
50 from the system. The new user account will be entered into
51 the system files as needed, the home directory will be
52 created, and initial files copied, depending on the command
53 line options. The options which apply to the __useradd__
54 command are
55
56
57 __-c__ ''comment''
58
59
60 The new user's password file comment field.
61
62
63 __-d__ ''home_dir''
64
65
66 The new user will be created using ''home_dir'' as the
67 value for the user's login directory. The default is to
68 append the ''login'' name to ''default_home'' and use
69 that as the login directory name.
70
71
72 __-e__ ''expire_date''
73
74
75 The date on which the user account will be disabled. The
76 date is specified in the format
77 ''YYYY-MM-DD''.
78
79
80 __-f__ ''inactive_days''
81
82
83 The number of days after a password expires until the
84 account is permanently disabled. A value of 0 disables the
85 account as soon as the password has expired, and a value of
86 -1 disables the feature. The default value is
87 -1.
88
89
90 __-g__ ''initial_group''
91
92
93 The group name or number of the user's initial login group.
94 The group name must exist. A group number must refer to an
95 already existing group. The default group number is
96 1.
97
98
99 __-G__ ''group,[[...]''
100
101
102 A list of supplementary groups which the user is also a
103 member of. Each group is separated from the next by a comma,
104 with no intervening whitespace. The groups are subject to
105 the same restrictions as the group given with the __-g__
106 option. The default is for the user to belong only to the
107 initial group.
108
109
110 __-m__
111
112
113 The user's home directory will be created if it does not
114 exist. The files contained in ''skeleton_dir'' will be
115 copied to the home directory if the __-k__ option is
116 used, otherwise the files contained in ''/etc/skel'' will
117 be used instead. Any directories contained in
118 ''skeleton_dir'' or ''/etc/skel'' will be created in
119 the user's home directory as well. The __-k__ option is
120 only valid in conjunction with the __-m__ option. The
121 default is to not create the directory and to not copy any
122 files.
123
124
125 __-p__ ''passwd''
126
127
128 The encrypted password, as returned by crypt(3). The
129 default is to disable the account.
130
131
132 __-s__ ''shell''
133
134
135 The name of the user's login shell. The default is to leave
136 this field blank, which causes the system to select the
137 default login shell.
138
139
140 __-u__ ''uid''
141
142
143 The numerical value of the user's ID. This value must be
144 unique, unless the ''-o'' option is used. The value must
145 be non-negative. The default is to use the smallest ID value
146 greater than 99 and greater than every other user. Values
147 between 0 and 99 are typically reserved for system
148 accounts.
149
150
151 __Changing the default values__
152
153
154 When invoked with the __-D__ option, __useradd__ will
155 either display the current default values, or update the
156 default values from the command line. The valid options
157 are
158
159
160 __-b__ ''default_home''
161
162
163 The initial path prefix for a new user's home directory. The
164 user's name will be affixed to the end of
165 ''default_home'' to create the new directory name if the
166 __-d__ ''option is not used when creating a new
167 account.''
168
169
170 __-e__ ''default_expire_date''
171
172
173 The date on which the user account is disabled.
174
175
176 __-f__ ''default_inactive''
177
178
179 The number of days after a password has expired before the
180 account will be disabled.
181
182
183 __-g__ ''default_group''
184
185
186 The group name or ID for a new user's initial group. The
187 named group must exist, and a numerical group ID must have
188 an existing entry .
189
190
191 __-s__ ''default_shell''
192
193
194 The name of the new user's login shell. The named program
195 will be used for all future new user accounts.
196
197
198 If no options are specified, __useradd__ displays the
199 current default values.
200 !!NOTES
201
202
203 The system administrator is responsible for placing the
204 default user files in the ''/etc/skel''
205 directory.
206
207
208 The __adduser__ program is generally more friendly to use
209 than this one and also uses Debian policy conformant UID and
210 GID values, creating a home directory a with skeletal
211 configuration, running a custom script, and other features.
212 It is more prefered than using this program.
213 !!CAVEATS
214
215
216 You may not add a user to an NIS group. This must be
217 performed on the NIS server.
218 !!FILES
219
220
221 /etc/passwd - user account information
222 /etc/shadow - secure user account information
223 /etc/group - group information
224 /etc/default/useradd - default information
225 /etc/skel - directory containing default files
226 !!SEE ALSO
227
228
229 chfn(1), chsh(1), crypt(3),
230 groupadd(8), groupdel(8), groupmod(8),
231 passwd(1), userdel(8),
232 usermod(8)
233 !!AUTHOR
234
235
236 Julianne Frances Haugh (jfh@austin.ibm.com)
237 ----
This page is a man page (or other imported legacy content). We are unable to automatically determine the license status of this page.