USERADD(8) NetBSD System Manager's Manual USERADD(8)
NAME
useradd - add a user to the system
SYNOPSIS
useradd -D [-b base-dir] [-e expiry-time] [-f inactive-time] [-g gid | name | =uid] [-L login-class] [[-k skel-dir] -r low..high] [-s shell] useradd [-mov] [-G secondary-group] [-b base-dir] [-c comment] [-d home-dir] [-e expiry-time] [-f inactive-time] [-g gid | name | =uid] [-k skel-dir] [-L login-class] [-p password] [-r low..high] [-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 pro- vided in the /etc/usermgmt.conf file, which, if running as root, is cre- ated using the built-in defaults if it does not exist. The first form of the command shown above (utilising the -D option) sets and displays the defaults for the useradd utility. -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. -b base-dir sets the default base directory. This is the directory to which the user directory is added, which will be created if the -m op- tion is specified and no -d option is specified. -e expiry-time sets the default 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. -f inactive-time sets the default time at which new user accounts will expire. Also see the -e option above. -g gid | groupname | =uid sets the default group for new users. -k skel-dir sets the skeleton directory in which to find files with which to populate new users' home directories. -L login-class sets the default login class for new users. See login.conf(5) for more information on user login classes. -r low..high sets 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. -s shell sets 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 op- tions are processed: -G secondary-group is the secondary group to which the user will be added in the /etc/group file. -b base-directory is the base directory name, in which the user's new home directo- ry will be created, should the -m option be specified. -c comment is the comment field (also, for historical reasons known as the GECOS field) which will be added for the user, and typically will include the username, and, perhaps, contact information for the user. -d home-directory is the home directory which will be created and populated for the user, should the -m option be specified. -e expiry-time sets 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 sets the time at which new user accounts will expire. Also see the -e option above. -g gid | name | =uid gives 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 gives the skeleton directory in which to find files with which to populate the new user's home directory. -L login-class This option sets the login class for the user being created. See login.conf(5) for more information on user login classes. -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 an- other user. -p password specifies an already-encrypted password for the new user. This password can then be changed by using the chpass(1) utility. -s shell specifies the login shell for the new user. -u uid specifies 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 enables verbose mode - explain the commands as they are executed. Once the information has been verified, useradd uses pwd_mkdb(8) to up- date 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 informa- tion is not available to programs. The useradd utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
FILES
/etc/usermgmt.conf /etc/skel/* /etc/login.conf
SEE ALSO
chpass(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 NetBSD 1.5. It is based on the addnerd package by the same author.
AUTHORS
The useradd utility was written by Alistair G. Crooks (agc@netbsd.org). NetBSD 1.5.3 September 5, 2001 3
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