Adding users and groups

From Linux 101, The beginner's guide to all things Linux.

Adding users and groups is easy.

[edit] Users

To add a user, use the following commands:

# useradd newusername

# passwd newusername

Optionally, you can set additional user info and the default shell using the following commands:

# chfn newusername

# chsh newusername

Note: Although our examples here show root running these previous two commands, it is possible for a user to switch his/her finger information and shell choice for himself/herself by running these commands, if the system is set up to allow it.

[edit] Groups

Adding groups is similar:

# groupadd newgroupname

Users can be added to groups using this command:

# gpasswd -a username newgroupname

A password can also be set for a group, which will allow anyone who knows it to join the group later:

# gpasswd newgroupname