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Managing Ubuntu Linux Users and Groups

156 bytes added, 19:31, 5 July 2007
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== Adding a User to an Ubuntu Linux System ==
There are two methods for adding new users to a system, one way is using the graphical ''User Settings'' tool and the other is to use the ‘’adduser’’ ''adduser'' command-line tool. In this section we will look at both approaches.
To add a new user to your Ubuntu Linux system using the ''User settings'' tool select ''System'' desktop menu and choose ''Users and Groups'' from the ''Administration'' sub-menu. A dialog similar to the one shown below will appear:
To add a new user, click on the ''Add User'' button. The ''New user account'' dialog will subsequently appear ready to be filled in with data relating to the new user, such as username, real name, password and contact information:
[[Image:ubuntu_linux_add_new_user.jpg|Add new user to Ubuntu Linux]]
To define the privileges for this new user select the ''Privileges'' tab of the ''New user account'' dialog to display the privileges screen:
[[Image:ubuntu_linux_user_privileges.jpg|Set Ubuntu Linux user Privileges]]
De-select any privileges you do not wish the new user to have. In particular you will want to ensure the user does not have ''Administration'' privilege unless the user is a trusted system administrator. The other privileges are usually considered to be safe for the typical user.
The final screen on the ''Add user dialog'' allows ''Advanced'' settings to be defined. These include such issues as the home directory of the user (traditionally /usr/''username''), tyhe type of shell that is presented as the command line in a terminal window (Bash is usually the default and there is no reason to change this unless you specifically need a different shell), the group to which the user belongs and the user ID. Use the drop down group menu to change the user's group membership to a different group:
[[Image:ubuntu_linux_user_advanced.jpg|Advanced user setting on Ubuntu Linux]]
Once the new user is configured, click on the ''OK'' button to add the new user. Once added the new user should appear in the list of users in the settings dialog and it should be possible to login in using the username and password specified.
To add a new group click on the ''Add Group'' and enter the name of the group you wish to add. Add the users that should belong to this group by checking the box next to each user name in the list. For example the following screenshot shows user John Smith being added to the new accounts group:
[[image:ubuntu_linux_add_group.jpg|Ubuntu Linux add new group]]
Click on ''OK'' to add the new group to the system.
To modify an Ubuntu Linux group select the group to modify from the list of groups in the ''Group settings'' dialog (as outlined above) and click on ''Properties''. The resulting ''Group properties'' dialog (shown below) allows basic settings such as the group ID, group name and group members to be changed.
[[Image:ubuntu_linux_group_properties.jpg|Ubuntu Linux Group Properties Dialog]]
To add a group from the command line, use the ''addgroup'' utility. For example:

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