NAME
useradd
- add a user to the system
SYNOPSIS
useradd
-D
[-F]
[-b base-dir]
[-e expiry-time]
[-f inactive-time]
[-g gid | name |
=uid
]
[-k skel-dir]
[-L login-class]
[-M home-perm]
[-r lowuid
..
highuid]
[-s shell]
useradd
[-moSv]
[-b base-dir]
[-c comment]
[-d home-dir]
[-e expiry-time]
[-f inactive-time]
[-G secondary-group]
[-g gid | name |
=uid
]
[-k skel-dir]
[-L login-class]
[-M home-perm]
[-p password]
[-r lowuid
..
highuid]
[-s shell]
[-u uid]
user
DESCRIPTION
The
useradd
utility adds a user to the system, creating and
populating a home directory if necessary.
Any skeleton files will be provided
for the new user if they exist in the
skel-dir
directory (see the
-k
option).
Default values for
the base directory,
the time of password expiry,
the time of account expiry,
primary group,
the skeleton directory,
the range from which the uid will be allocated,
and default login shell
can be provided in the
/etc/usermgmt.conf
file, which, if running as root, is created using the built-in defaults if
it does not exist.
The first form of the command shown above (using the
-D
option)
sets and displays the defaults for the
useradd
utility.
See
user(8)
for more information about
EXTENSIONS
.
- -b base-dir
-
Set the default base directory.
This is the directory to which the
user directory is added, which will be created if the
-m
option is specified and no
-d
option is specified.
- -D
-
without any further options,
-D
will show the current defaults which
will be used by the
useradd
utility.
Together with one of the options shown for the first version
of the command,
-D
will set the default to be the new value.
See
usermgmt.conf(5)
for more information.
- -e expiry-time
-
Set the time at which the new user accounts will expire.
It should be entered in the form
``month day year'',
where month is the month name (the first three characters are
sufficient), day is the day of the month, and year is the year.
Time in seconds since the epoch (UTC) is also valid.
A value of 0 can be used to disable this feature.
- -F
-
Force the user to change their password upon next login.
- -f inactive-time
-
Set the time at which passwords for the new user accounts will
expire.
Also see the
-e
option above.
- -g gid | groupname |
=uid
-
Set the default group for new users.
- -k skel-dir
-
Set the skeleton directory in which to find files with
which to populate new users' home directories.
- -L login-class
-
Set the default login class for new users.
See
login.conf(5)
for more information on user login classes.
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
- -M home-perm
-
sets the default permissions of the newly created home directory if
-m
is given.
The permission is specified as an octal number, with or without a leading zero.
- -r lowuid
..
highuid -
Set the low and high bounds of uid ranges for new users.
A new user can only be created if there are uids which can be
assigned from one of the free ranges.
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
- -s shell
-
Set the default login shell for new users.
In the second form of the command,
after setting any defaults, and then reading values from
/etc/usermgmt.conf
,
the following command line options are processed:
- -b base-directory
-
Set the base directory name, in which the user's new home
directory will be created, should the
-m
option be specified.
- -c comment
-
Set the comment field (also, for historical reasons known as the
GECOS field) which will be added for the user, and typically will include
the user's full name, and, perhaps, contact information for the user.
- -d home-directory
-
Set the home directory which will be created and populated for the user,
should the
-m
option be specified.
- -e expiry-time
-
Set the time at which the current password will expire for new
users.
It should be entered in the form
``month day year'',
where month is the month name (the first three characters are
sufficient), day is the day of the month, and year is the year.
Time in seconds since the epoch (UTC) is also valid.
A value of 0 can be used to disable this feature.
See
passwd(5)
for more details.
- -f inactive-time
-
Set the time at which new user accounts will expire.
Also see the
-e
option above.
- -G secondary-group
-
Add the user to the secondary group
secondary-group
in the
/etc/group
file.
- -g gid | name |
=uid
-
Give the group name or identifier to be used for the new user's primary group.
If this is
`=uid',
then a uid and gid will be picked which are both unique
and the same, and a line added to
/etc/group
to describe the new group.
- -k skeleton directory
-
Give the skeleton directory in which to find files
with which to populate the new user's home directory.
- -L login-class
-
Set the login class for the user being created.
See
login.conf(5)
for more information on user login classes.
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
- -M home-perm
-
sets the permissions of the newly created home directory if
-m
is given.
The permission is specified as an octal number, with or without a leading zero.
- -m
-
Create a new home directory for the new user.
- -o
-
Allow the new user to have a uid which is already in use for another user.
- -p password
-
Specify an already-encrypted password for the new user.
Encrypted passwords can be generated with
pwhash(1).
The password can be changed later by using
chpass(1)
or
passwd(1).
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
- -S
-
Allow samba user names with a trailing dollar sign to be
added to the system.
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
- -s shell
-
Specify the login shell for the new user.
- -u uid
-
Specify a uid for the new user.
Boundaries for this value can be preset for all users
by using the
range
field in the
/etc/usermgmt.conf
file.
- -v
-
Enable verbose mode - explain the commands as they are executed.
This option is included if built with
EXTENSIONS
.
Once the information has been verified,
useradd
uses
pwd_mkdb(8)
to update the user database.
This is run in the background, and,
at very large sites could take several minutes.
Until this update
is completed, the password file is unavailable for other updates
and the new information is not available to programs.
EXIT STATUS
FILES
/etc/usermgmt.conf
-
/etc/skel/*
-
/etc/login.conf
-
SEE ALSO
chpass(1),
passwd(1),
pwhash(1),
group(5),
login.conf(5),
passwd(5),
usermgmt.conf(5),
pwd_mkdb(8),
user(8),
userdel(8),
usermod(8)
HISTORY
The
useradd
utility first appeared in
NetBSD1.5.
It is based on the
addnerd
package by the same author.
AUTHORS
The
useradd
utility was written by
Alistair G. Crooks
<agc@NetBSD.org>.
Support for setting permissions of home directories was added by Hubert Feyrer.