You should know the basics of Linux admin so that you can handle the user accounts and usergroups for user management in Linux. In this Linux Administration tutorial, you will learn-
Creating a User Deleting, disabling account Adding users to the usergroups Finger Linux/Unix User Management Commands
Creating a User
In Linux, every user is assigned an individual account which contains all the files, information, and data of the user. You can create multiple users in a Linux operating system using Linux user commands. Next in this Linux admin tutorial, we will learn how to create a user in Linux Administration. The steps for creating a user are:
Using Terminal
Step 1) Use command sudo adduser
Step 2) Enter password for the new account and confirm
Step 3) Enter details of the new user and press Y
New account is created.
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Using GUI
Step 1) Go to the system settings look for an icon which says ‘User Accounts’.
Step 2) Click on the unlock icon and enter a password when prompted, then click the plus sign.
Step 3) A new window would pop up, asking you for adding information to the new user account.The account type offers two choices – standard and administration(Ubuntu Limitation). If you want the new user to have administrative access to the computer, select Administrator as the account type. Administrators can do things like add and delete users, install software and drivers, and change the date and time. Otherwise, choose standard.Fill in the full name, username and click on create.
Step 4) The new account would show, but would be disabled by default.
To activate it, click the password option and add a new password. Click change to enable the account.
Deleting, disabling account
Terminal
For disabling an account using Terminal, remove the password set on the account.
To delete an account, use the command –
GUI
Step 1) Highlight the user account and click the minus sign to delete.
Step 2) For disabling click on the area where the password is stored, and you would get the following prompt. Select disable this account and click on change.
Adding users to the usergroups
You can view the existing groups on your Linux operating system by entering the following Linux user commands:
Now to add a user to a group, use the following syntax:
The system would ask for authentication and then it would add the user to the group. You can check whether the user is in a group by this command.
And it would show it as
Removing a user from Usergroup Use the following syntax for removing a user.
The GUI method
If you do not want to run the Linux user commands in terminal to manage users and groups, then you can install a GUI add-on .
Once done, type
Check user settings, and a tab Manage Groups will appear-
Finger
This command is used to procure information of the users on a Linux machine. You can use it on both local & remote machines The syntax ‘finger’ gives data on all the logged users on the remote and local machine.
The syntax ‘finger username’ specifies the information of the user in User administration in Linux.
Linux/Unix user management commands
User management in Linux is done by using Linux administration commands. Here is a list of user management commands in Linux:
Summary:
You can use both GUI or Terminal for User Administration in Linux User management
You can create, disable and remove user accounts using Linux admin commands.
You can add/delete a user to a usergroup.