User¶

Synopsis¶

A user is anyone who uses a computer. Computer has a name for each account it creates, and it is this name by which a person gains access to use the computer. Some system services also run using restricted or privileged user accounts.

Managing users is done for the purpose of security by limiting access in certain specific ways. The superuser (root) has complete access to the operating system and its configuration; it is intended for administrative use only. Unprivileged users can use the su and sudo programs for controlled privilege escalation.

A fundamental part of system administration is configuring and managing users and groups. Part of this task involves monitoring the log in capabilities of all system entities.

We will be exploring these concepts on an Ubuntu 12.04 VPS, but you can follow along on any up-to-date Linux distribution.

Help Command¶

This command helps to determine the usage of User module. The user will come to know about the different way/format to execute this module. This command guides the end user to know the purpose of this command. Below given are the command and the screenshot of the same.

ptconfigure user help

The screenshot for the above command is listed below,

kevell@corp:/# ptconfigure user help
******************************
 This command allows you to modify create or modify users
 User, user
       - create
       Create a new system user, overwriting if it exists
       example: ptconfigure user create --username="somename"
       - remove
       Remove a system user
       example: ptconfigure user remove --username="somename"
       - set-password
       Set the password of a system user
       example: ptconfigure user set-password --username="somename" --new-password="somepassword"
       - exists
       Check the existence of a user
       example: ptconfigure user exists --username="somename"
       - show-groups
       Show groups to which a user belongs
       example: ptconfigure user show-groups --username="somename"
       - add-to-group
       Add user to a group
       example: ptconfigure user add-to-group --username="somename" --groupname="somegroupname"
       - remove-from-group
       Remove user from a group
       example: ptconfigure user remove-from-group --username="somename" --groupname="somegroupname"
------------------------------
End Help
******************************

Create¶

When the user needs to create a new system user account, the below given command will execute the process.

ptconfigure user create --username="somename"

Remove¶

When the user needs to remove a system user account, the below given command will execute the process.

ptconfigure user remove --username="somename"

Set-password¶

When the user needs to set the password of a system user, the below given command will execute the process.

ptconfigure user set-password --username="somename" --new-password="somepassword"

Exists¶

When the user needs to check for the existence of a user, the below given command will execute the process.

ptconfigure user exists --username="somename"

Show-groups¶

When the user needs to show groups to which a user belongs, the below given command will execute the process.

ptconfigure user show-groups --username="somename"

Add-to-group¶

When the user needs to add user to a group, the below given command will execute the process.

ptconfigure user add-to-group --username="somename" --groupname="somegroupname"

Remove-from-group¶

When the user needs to remove user from a group, the below given command will execute the process.

ptconfigure user remove-from-group --username="somename" --groupname="somegroupname"

Alternative Parameter¶

There are two alternative parameters which can be used in command line.

User, user

Example: ptconfigure User help /ptconfigure user help

Benefits¶

User authentication on Linux is a relatively flexible area of system management. There are many ways of accomplishing the same objective with very simple tools.