adduser, rmuser - add and delete users from the system
adduser [-batch username [group[,group] ...] [fullname]
[password]]
[-check_only] [-class login_class] [-config_create]
[-dotdir directory] [-e method | -encryption method]
[-group login_group] [-h | -help | -?] [-home
partition]
[-message file] [-noconfig] [-shell shell]
[-s | -silent | -q | -quiet] [-uid_start uid]
[-uid_end uid]
[-v | -verbose] [-unencrypted]
rmuser [username]
The adduser program adds new users to the system. The
rmuser program removes
users from the system. When not passed any arguments,
both utilities
operate in interactive mode and prompt for any required
information.
The options are as follows:
-batch username [group[,group] ...] [fullname] [password]
Enter batch mode in which multiple users are specified on the
command-line in a compact format. By default the
password is assumed
to already be properly encrypted.
-check_only
Check the passwd, group, and shells databases for
consistency and
problems then exit without performing any other operation.
-class login_class
Use the specified login_class as the default user
login class.
See login.conf(5) for further details.
-config_create
Create or edit default configuration information and
message file
before proceeding with the normal interactive adduser procedure.
-dotdir directory
Copy files from directory into the HOME directory of
new users.
Files named in the fashion of ``dot.foo'' will be
renamed to
``.foo''. By default, all files are made writable
and readable
by their owner.
-encryption, -e method
Encrypt local passwords using method of encryption
as described
in login.conf(5). If method is ``auto'', the encryption type
will be derived from the user's login class.
-group login_group
Specify the default login group. A value of USER
means that the
username is to be used as the login group.
-help, -h, -?
Print a summary of options and exit.
-home partition
Specify the default home partition where all users'
home directories
are to be located.
-message file
Send new users a welcome message from file. Specifying a value
of ``no'' for file causes no message to be sent to
new users.
-noconfig
Do not read the default configuration file.
-shell shell
Specify the default shell for new users.
-silent, -s, -quiet, -q
Causes the program to print fewer warnings, questions, and bug
reports.
-uid_start uid
Use UIDs from uid up when automatically generating
UIDs.
-uid_end uid
Do not use UIDs higher than uid when generating
UIDs.
-unencrypted
Causes the program to assume that the password given
in batch
mode is unencrypted. The password will be encrypted
before being
added to the password file. Use of this option is
discouraged,
as the username and cleartext password will appear
in the process
list, which is visible to users.
-verbose, -v
Causes the program to print many warnings and questions. This
option is recommended for novice users.
adduser first performs consistency checks on the password,
group, and
shell databases. This includes finding any duplicate user
or group
names, illegal shells, or shells that aren't executable.
Once these
tests are passed, adduser performs the following operations
for each new
user:
1. Add the appropriate entries to the password and
group files
and re-generate the password database using
pwd_mkdb(8).
2. Create a home directory and copy all files from
the skeletal
login directory (normally /etc/skel) to this new
directory.
Files named in the fashion of ``dot.foo'' will be
renamed to
``.foo'' in the new directory.
3. Mails the new user a welcome message at the discretion of the
account creator.
Similarly, when removing a user, rmuser performs the following operations
for the given username:
1. Removes any crontab(1) entries or at(1) jobs belonging to the
user.
2. Removes the user from the password database and
all groups in
the group database. If a group becomes empty and
its name is
the same as the username, the group is removed
(this complements
adduser's unique per-user groups).
3. Recursively deletes all files in the user's home
directory and
removes the directory itself (provided the directory actually
belongs to the user). rmuser prompts for confirmation before
actually doing this.
4. Removes the user's incoming mail file if one exists.
Understandably, rmuser politely refuses to remove users
whose UID is 0
(typically root).
username
It is recommended that login names contain only lowercase characters
and digits. They may also contain uppercase
characters,
non-leading hyphens, periods, and a trailing '$'.
Login names
may not be longer than 31 characters (see BUGS section of
setlogin(2)). If you need a longer login name for
e-mail addresses,
you can define an alias in
/etc/mail/aliases.
fullname
This should contain the user's first name and surname. The `:'
is not permitted.
login_class
The specified user login class must exist in
/etc/login.conf.
shell Only valid entries from the shells(5) database or
entries corresponding
to sliplogin(8) and pppd(8) are permitted.
uid_start
This value is the start of the range where free UID
values are
searched for. This value must be less than the value of uid_end.
The default value is 1000 or as configured in the
configuration
file.
uid_end
This value is the end of the range where free UID
values are
searched for. This value must be more than the value of
uid_start. The default value is 2147483647 or as
configured in
the configuration file.
gid/login group
This value is generated automatically, but can be
specified at
the discretion of the person invoking the program.
password
If not empty, the password is encrypted according to
login.conf(5). If empty, the account will be automatically disabled
to prevent spurious access to it.
adduser follows these steps to extract its configuration information:
1. Read internal variables.
2. Read configuration file (/etc/adduser.conf).
3. Parse command-line options.
The adduser.conf format is explained within that file and is
quite
straightforward.
/etc/master.passwd user database
/etc/group group database
/etc/shells shell database
/etc/ptmp lock file for the passwd database
/etc/adduser.conf configuration file for adduser
/etc/adduser.message message file for adduser
/etc/skel skeletal login directory
/var/log/adduser log file for adduser
# adduser
Start adduser in interactive mode.
# adduser -batch falken guest,staff,beer 'Prof. Falken'
joshua
Create user ``falken'' and login group ``falken''. Invite
user
``falken'' into groups ``guest'', ``staff'', and ``beer''.
Realname
(fullname) is ``Prof. Falken''. Password is ``joshua''
(don't use such a
password!). Send user falken a welcome message.
# adduser -uid_start 5000 -group guest -message no -batch
vehlefanz
Create user ``vehlefanz'' in login group ``guest''. Start
the free UID
search at 5000. No other groups, no realname, no password.
Do not send
a welcome message.
chpass(1), finger(1), passwd(1), setlogin(2), aliases(5),
group(5),
login.conf(5), passwd(5), shells(5), nologin(8),
pwd_mkdb(8), vipw(8),
yp(8)
OpenBSD 3.6 July 8, 1999
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