User administration

User administration tools in different distributions

Mon, 11/28/2016 - 03:27 - augustin

This old kubuntu thread has an overview of different user management tools in different distributions:
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthread.php?59417-User-Management

It'd be nice to have an overview/comparison of different user administration tools used as default in different distributions or Desktop Environments.

Migrate users

Thu, 11/17/2016 - 05:55 - augustin

When installing a new distribution on a new partition (new disk), it is sometimes useful to be able to import custom settings from a previously running distribution, still installed on a disk available in the system.
The most obvious are user accounts. Why set up new accounts for each users when we have a separate /home partition and existing users in the old system. So, during the installation phase, offer to mount the old partition and import such settings.

adduser vs. useradd

Thu, 10/20/2016 - 01:58 - augustin

Apparently the difference depends on the linux distribution.

On gentoo, I emerged app-admin/superadduser
but I still don't have adduser:

$ which adduser
which: no adduser in (/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/opt/bin:/usr/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/gcc-bin/4.9.3)

kde-apps/kuser

See:
http://linux.overshoot.tv/wiki/user_administration
https://www.kde.org/applications/system/kuser/

KDE Plasma 5

kuser has not been ported to Plasma 5. KDE developers instead decided to develop a new application from scratch (see below).
Kuser still depends on kdepimlibs:4 and as a result, has been deprecated by Gentoo developers:
https://archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-dev-announce/message/c4fcef77d881bfbb...
https://packages.gentoo.org/packages/kde-apps/kuser

app-admin/superadduser

Interactive script from Slackware.
The executable superadduser provides a wrapper for useradd.

Sample session


$ superadduser

Login name for new user []: testgentoo

User ID ('UID') [ defaults to next available ]:

Initial group [ users ]:

Additional groups (comma separated) []: wheel,audio,video,games

Home directory [ /home/testgentoo ]

Shell [ /bin/bash ]

Expiry date (YYYY-MM-DD) []:

New account will be created as follows:

---------------------------------------
Login name.......: testgentoo
UID..............: [ Next available ]

User administration

passwd: change password
useradd: add a user!
usermod
groupmod
userdel

useradd, adduser, superadduser

useradd is the low level executable. Its use is recommended in scripts and required when no other alternative exist.

adduser can be one of several things depending on your distribution. In Debian and derivatives, adduser is an interactive (?) script which serves as a wrapper for useradd. In Fedora and derivatives, adduser is a symbolic link to useradd. In gentoo, use superadduser instead.

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