useradd command in Linux with Examples
useradd is a command in Linux that is used to add user accounts to your system. It is just a symbolic link to adduser command in Linux and the difference between both of them is that useradd is a native binary compiled with system whereas adduser is a Perl script which uses useradd binary in the background. It make changes to the following files:
- /etc/passwd
- /etc/shadow
- /etc/group
- /etc/gshadow
- creates a directory for new user in /home
Syntax:
useradd [options] name_of_the_user
Working with useradd Command
1. To add a simple user
sudo useraddtest_user
This command will add the user named “test_user”.
2. To give a home directory path for new user
sudo useradd -d /home/test_user test_user
This will set the home directory of the us”/home/test_user”.
3. To create a user with specific user id
sudo useradd -u 1234 test_user
This will create a new user with the user-id “1234” and the name “test_user”.
4. To create a user with specific group id
sudo useradd -g 1000 test_user
This will create a new user with the group id “1000” and the name “test_user”.
5. To create a user without home directory
sudo useradd -M test_user
This will create the user with the name “test_user” and that too without a home directory.
6. To create a user with expiry date
sudo useradd -e 2020-05-30 test_user
This will create the user named “test_user” with the expiry date of 30th May 2020.
7. To create a user with a comment
sudo useradd -c "This is a test user" test_user
This will create a user with a short comment or description of the user.
8. To create a user with changed login shell
sudo useradd -s /bin/sh test_user
This will create a user named “test_user” with the default shell /bin/sh.
9 To set an unencrypted password for the user
sudo useradd -p test_password test_user
This will create a new user with the name “test_user” and an unencrypted password “test_password”.
10. To display help
sudo useradd --help
This command will display the help section of the useradd command.
