User Management- Linux

• useradd: standard system command to add a user to the system.
• adduser: script to add a user to the system.
• userdel: delete a user account and optionally related files.
• addgroup: script to add a group to the system.
• delgroup: remove a group from the system.
• usermod: modify a user account.

Adding Users to the System

The following hidden files are copied into the user’s home directory, and will be used to provide environment variables for his/her user session.

1. .bash_logout
2. .bash_profile
3. .bashrc

Common Usage Example:

useradd -u 1006 -c "Nicole Ploof" -m -s /bin/bash nicolep

Although not necessary, you can specify a userid to fit your own system numbering schema.

adduser vs useradd

Adduser is not a standard Linux command. Adduser is not available on some Linux distributions. On others, it is a soft link to useradd. While on some others, it is a Perl script.

Both commands have a man page on most linux distributions

• adduser, addgroup - add a user or group to the system
• useradd - create a new user or update default new user information

Related

• Console Command Reference
• User Management- OpenBSD