FreeBSD provides a variety of different commands to manage user accounts. The most common commands are summarized below, followed by more detailed examples of their usage.
| Command | Summary |
|---|---|
| adduser(8) | The recommended command-line application for adding new users. |
| rmuser(8) | The recommended command-line application for removing users. |
| chpass(1) | A flexible tool for changing user database information. |
| passwd(1) | The simple command-line tool to change user passwords. |
| pw(8) | A powerful and flexible tool for modifying all aspects of user accounts. |
adduser(8) is a simple program for adding new users When a new user is added, this program automatically updates /etc/passwd and /etc/group. It also creates a home directory for the new user, copies in the default configuration files from /usr/share/skel, and can optionally mail the new user a welcome message.
Example 14-1. Adding a User on FreeBSD
# adduser Username: jru Full name: J. Random User Uid (Leave empty for default): Login group [jru]: Login group is jru. Invite jru into other groups? []: wheel Login class [default]: Shell (sh csh tcsh zsh nologin) [sh]: zsh Home directory [/home/jru]: Home directory permissions (Leave empty for default): Use password-based authentication? [yes]: Use an empty password? (yes/no) [no]: Use a random password? (yes/no) [no]: Enter password: Enter password again: Lock out the account after creation? [no]: Username : jru Password : **** Full Name : J. Random User Uid : 1001 Class : Groups : jru wheel Home : /home/jru Shell : /usr/local/bin/zsh Locked : no OK? (yes/no): yes adduser: INFO: Successfully added (jru) to the user database. Add another user? (yes/no): no Goodbye! #
Note: Since the password is not echoed when typed, be careful to not mistype the password when creating the user account.
To completely remove a user from the system use rmuser(8). This command performs the following steps:
Removes the user's crontab(1) entry if one exists.
Removes any at(1) jobs belonging to the user.
Kills all processes owned by the user.
Removes the user from the system's local password file.
Removes the user's home directory, if it is owned by the user.
Removes the incoming mail files belonging to the user from /var/mail.
Removes all files owned by the user from temporary file storage areas such as /tmp.
Finally, removes the username from all groups to which it belongs in /etc/group.
Note: If a group becomes empty and the group name is the same as the username, the group is removed. This complements the per-user unique groups created by adduser(8).
rmuser(8) cannot be used to remove superuser accounts since that is almost always an indication of massive destruction.
By default, an interactive mode is used, as shown in the following example.
Example 14-2. rmuser Interactive Account Removal
# rmuser jru Matching password entry: jru:*:1001:1001::0:0:J. Random User:/home/jru:/usr/local/bin/zsh Is this the entry you wish to remove? y Remove user's home directory (/home/jru)? y Updating password file, updating databases, done. Updating group file: trusted (removing group jru -- personal group is empty) done. Removing user's incoming mail file /var/mail/jru: done. Removing files belonging to jru from /tmp: done. Removing files belonging to jru from /var/tmp: done. Removing files belonging to jru from /var/tmp/vi.recover: done. #
chpass(1) can be used to change user database information such as passwords, shells, and personal information.
Only the superuser can change other users' information and passwords with chpass(1).
When passed no options, aside from an optional username, chpass(1) displays an editor containing user information. When the user exists from the editor, the user database is updated with the new information.
Note: You will be asked for your password after exiting the editor if you are not the superuser.
Example 14-3. Interactive chpass by Superuser
#Changing user database information for jru. Login: jru Password: * Uid [#]: 1001 Gid [# or name]: 1001 Change [month day year]: Expire [month day year]: Class: Home directory: /home/jru Shell: /usr/local/bin/zsh Full Name: J. Random User Office Location: Office Phone: Home Phone: Other information:
A user can change only a small subset of this information, and only for their own user account.
passwd(1) is the usual way to change your own password as a user, or another user's password as the superuser.
Note: To prevent accidental or unauthorized changes, the user must enter their original password before a new password can be set. This is not the case when the superuser changes a user's password.
Example 14-5. Changing Your Password
% passwd Changing local password for jru. Old password: New password: Retype new password: passwd: updating the database... passwd: done
Example 14-6. Changing Another User's Password as the Superuser
# passwd jru Changing local password for jru. New password: Retype new password: passwd: updating the database... passwd: done
Note: As with chpass(1), yppasswd(1) is a link to passwd(1), so NIS works with either command.
pw(8) is a command line utility to create, remove, modify, and display users and groups. It functions as a front end to the system user and group files. pw(8) has a very powerful set of command line options that make it suitable for use in shell scripts, but new users may find it more complicated than the other commands presented in this section.