Ubuntu Unleashed 2013 Edition: Covering 12.10 and 13.04, Eighth Edition

Creating Users

When a Linux system administrator creates a user, an entry in /etc/passwd for the user is created. The system also creates a directory, labeled with the user’s username, in the /home directory. For example, if you create a user named heather, the user’s home directory is /home/heather.

Note

In this chapter, you learn how to manage users from the command line. See Chapter 11, “Managing Users,” for more information on user administration including doing so using graphical administration utilities.

Use the adduser command, along with a user’s name, to quickly create a user:

matthew@seymour:~$ sudo adduser heather

After creating the user, you must also create the user’s initial password with the passwd command:

matthew@seymour:~$ ...