useradd(8)useradd(8)NAME
useradd - create a new user account
SYNOPSIS
useradd [-D binddn] [-P path] [-c comment] [-d homedir]
[-e expire] [-f inactive] [-G group,...] [-g gid]
[-m [-k skeldir]] [-o] [-p password] [-u uid]
[-U umask] [-r] [-s shell] [--service service] [--help]
[--usage] [-v] [--preferred-uid uid] account
useradd --show-defaults
useradd --save-defaults [-d homedir] [-e expire] [-f inactive]
[-g gid] [-G group,...] [-k skeldir] [-U umask] [-s shell]
DESCRIPTION
useradd creates a new user account using the default values from
/etc/default/useradd and the specified on the command line. Depending
on the command line options the new account will be added to the system
files or LDAP database, the home directory will be created and the ini‐
tial default files and directories will be copied.
The account name must begin with an alphabetic character and the rest
of the string should be from the POSIX portable character class ([A-Za-
z_][A-Za-z0-9_-.]*[A-Za-z0-9_-.$]).
OPTIONS-c, --comment comment
This option specifies the users finger information.
-d, --home homedir
This option specifies the users home directory. If not speci‐
fied, the default from /etc/default/useradd is used.
-e, --expire expire
With this option the date when the account will be expired can
be changed. expiredate has to be specified as number of days
since January 1st, 1970. The date may also be expressed in the
format YYYY-MM-DD. If not specified, the default from
/etc/default/useradd is used.
-f, --inactive inactive
This option is used to set the number of days of inactivity
after a password has expired before the account is locked. A
user whose account is locked must contact the system adminis‐
trator before being able to use the account again. A value of
-1 disables this feature. If not specified, the default from
/etc/default/useradd is used.
-G, --groups group,...
With this option a list of supplementary groups can be speci‐
fied, which the user should become a member of. Each group is
separated from the next one only by a comma, without whitespace.
If not specified, the default from /etc/default/useradd is used.
-g, --gid gid
The group name or number of the user's main group. The group
name or number must refer to an already existing group. If not
specified, the default from /etc/default/useradd is used.
-k, --skel skeldir
Specify an alternative skel directory. This option is only
valid, if the home directory for the new user should be created,
too. If not specified, the default from /etc/default/useradd or
/etc/skel is used.
-m, --create-home
Create home directory for new user account.
-o, --non-unique
Allow duplicate (non-unique) User IDs.
-p, --password password
Encrypted password as returned by crypt(3) for the new account.
The default is to disable the account.
-U, --umask umask
The permission mask is initialized to this value. It is used by
useradd for creating new home directories. The default is taken
from /etc/default/useradd.
-u, --uid uid
Force the new userid to be the given number. This value must be
positive and unique. The default is to use the first free ID
after the greatest used one. The range from which the user ID is
chosen can be specified in /etc/login.defs.
--preferred-uid uid
Set the new userid to the specified value if possible. If that
value is already in use the first free ID will be chosen as
described above.
-r, --system
Create a system account. A system account is an user with an UID
between SYSTEM_UID_MIN and SYSTEM_UID_MAX as defined in
/etc/login.defs, if no UID is specified. The GROUPS entry in
/etc/default/useradd is ignored, too.
-s, --shell shell
Specify user's login shell. The default for normal user accounts
is taken from /etc/default/useradd, the default for system
accounts is /bin/false.
--service service
Add the account to a special directory. The default is files,
but ldap is also valid.
-D, --binddn binddn
Use the Distinguished Name binddn to bind to the LDAP directory.
The user will be prompted for a password for simple authentica‐
tion.
-P, --path path
The passwd and shadow files are located below the specified
directory path. useradd will use this files, not /etc/passwd and
/etc/shadow.
--help Print a list of valid options with a short description.
--usage
Print a short list of valid options.
-v, --version
Print the version number and exit.
FILES
/etc/passwd - user account information
/etc/shadow - shadow user account information
/etc/group - group information
/etc/default/useradd - default values for account creation
/etc/skel - directory containing default files
SEE ALSOpasswd(1), login.defs(5), passwd(5), shadow(5), userdel(8), usermod(8)AUTHOR
Thorsten Kukuk <kukuk@suse.de>
pwdutils May 2010 useradd(8)
