adduser(8)
- NetBSD Manual Pages
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 1.6.2 September 5, 2001 3
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