Linux Create User Account

Q. How do I create a new Linux user account ? How do update or modify default Linux new user information? Using the command prompt (shell) tools, how do I add a user to the system? What are command line options for adding a user?

A. To create a new user account under any Linux distribution use command called useradd. The system administrator is responsible for creating account. Login as root user (or use sudo command).

useradd command syntax

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1. useradd [options] {username}  

useradd [options] {username}

Depending on command line options, the useradd command will update system files (/etc/passwd and /etc/shadow file with password) and may also create the new user's home directory and copy initial files.

Linux add a new user called rakhi

Type the command as follows:

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1. useradd rakhi  

useradd rakhi

Set a password for rakhi:

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1. passwd rakhi  

passwd rakhi

Without password user account will be in locked status. To unlock the account, you need to use above passwd command. Use passwd command to assign a password and set password aging guidelines.

Set account disable date

You can set date for the account to be disabled in the format YYYY-MM-DD with -e option while creating account itself:

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1. useradd -e {yyyy-mm-dd} {username}  
2. useradd -e 2008-12-31 jerry  

useradd -e {yyyy-mm-dd} {username}
useradd -e 2008-12-31 jerry

Set default password expiry

The -f {days} option set number of days after the password expires until the account is disabled. (If 0 is specified, the account is disabled immediately after the password expires. If -1 is specified, the account is not be disabled after the password expires.)