Vitalnix : User Management Suite
  manual v1.90.8.33

Descrpition

The Vitalnix architecture document shows that previously, each facility (Shadow, LDAP, Samba, etc.) required its own utilities like login, passwd, useradd, to name a few. Vitalnix itself adds its utilities, but obsoletes all others at the same time.

The utilities provided with Vitalnix try to behave like the ones from the Shadow Password Suite package, to ensure compatibility. Plus, they have some new options, too.

Positional "%" parameters

Please also consider reading the printf(3) manual if you do not know about these.

By default, the arguments are used in the order given. One can also specify explicitly which argument is taken, at each place where an argument is required, by writing %pm, where p is the argument number and m the modifier. For example: printf("Group: %2s, GID: %1ld\n", gid, group);. It is used for the AC_*, -A and -B commands/options in some of the following programs.

Notes

Due to the fact that most programs listed here must coexist with their old counterparts (from shadow), they have been prepended with a V (to indicate Vitalnix).

useradd - Create a new user

vuseradd [-A [command]] [-B [command]] [-I] [-M backend] [-S] [-G group[,...]] [-c comment] [-d home_dir] [-e expire_date] [-f inactive_days] [-g group] [-m [-k skel_dir]] [-p passwd] [-s shell] [-u uid [-o]|-r] login
-A [command] Runs the specified command after the user was successfully added. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -A is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-B [command] Runs the specified command before the user is added. It is run always, even if adding fails. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -B is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-I Interactively prompt for the new user's parameters
-M backend Uses the specified backend rather than the default one listed in the ACCDB configuration file
-S Uses the "split home" feature. This will create the home directory as /home/u/us/username rather than the default /home/username. The -d overrides this one.
-G group[,...] The supplemental (secondary) groups the user is a member in, separated by comma. group can either be the group's name or its GID.
-c comment The comment field for the new user. It can be in turn again split up in fields, separated by comma. Usually, the real name of the user is stored in the first field, the others are left for other commentary or data.
-d dir The new user will get dir as his home directory. This option alone does not create his home directory, but rather only writes that directory information into the user database. You usually want to pass -m also along to create the directory. This option overrides -S.
-e day Date on which the account expires. Date formats can be DD.MM.YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD. The default is to not let expire the account.
-f days The number of days which need to pass after a password expiration (-e) until the account is locked down.
-g group The group name or number of the user's initial (primary) group. group can either be the group's name or its GID.
-k dir The skeleton directory to use for the new user. Contents from this directory will be copied into the user's.
-m Create the user's home directory. The default is to create a directory called the same name as the user in /home, or what you specified as HOME in the configuration file, or if you passed -S or -d. If this option is given, an implicit -k /etc/skel takes effect, unless an explicit -k is specified.
-o If a user with the explicit UID given by -u already exists, you can override the error message with this option, to create non-unique UIDs.
-p pass The password to use for the new user. It must already be encrypted when passed with -p.
-r Create a system user, that is, with a lower UID than the hardcoded default (100), or what is specified under MIN_UID in the autouid configuration file. The -u option overrides this one.
-s shell Use shell as the default command interpreter for the new user. The default is /bin/bash or whatever you specified as SHELL in the configuration file.
-u uid The numerical user id of the new user. The default is to assign the user the next greatest UID. This option overrides -r.

useradd will create a new user using the supplied parameters, or, if -I is given, interactively ask the user for them. The home directory will be created and the skeleton copied thereinto. In interactive mode, each specified option is printed with a default value in square brackets. If an empty string is entered, the default value is taken. The -A, -B, -I, -M and -S options are unique to Vitalnix. The configuration file for useradd is ./etc/useradd.conf, or /etc/useradd.conf.

usermod - Modify a user account

vusermod [-A [command]] [-B [command]] [-M backend] [-c comment] [-d home_dir] [-e expire_date] [-f inactive_days] [-g initial_group] [-G group,[...]] -l login_name] [-p passwd] [-s shell] [-u uid] [-L] [-U] login
-A [command] Runs the specified command after the user was successfully modified. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -A is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-B [command] Runs the specified command before the user is modifed. It is run always, even if adding fails. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -B is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-I Interactively prompt for the new parameters
-M backend Uses the specified backend rather than the default one listed in the ACCDB configuration file

usermod

vuserdel - Delete a user account and related files

userdel [-A [command]] [-B [command]] [-M backend] [-r] login
-A [command] Runs the specified command after the user was successfully added. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -A is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-B [command] Runs the specified command before the user is added. It is run always, even if adding fails. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -B is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-M backend Uses the specified backend rather than the default one listed in the ACCDB configuration file

vgroupadd - Create a new group

groupadd [-A [command]] [-B [command]] [-I] [-M backend] [-g gid [-o]|-r] group
-A [command] Runs the specified command after the group was successfully added. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -A is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-B [command] Runs the specified command before the group is added. It is run always, even if adding fails. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -B is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-I Interactively prompt for the new user's parameters
-M backend Uses the specified backend rather than the default one listed in the ACCDB configuration file

vgroupmod - Modify a group

groupmod [-A [command]] [-B [command]] [-I] [-M backend] [-g gid [-o]] [-n group_name] group
-A [command] Runs the specified command after the group was successfully modified. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -A is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-B [command] Runs the specified command before the group is modified. It is run always, even if adding fails. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -B is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-I Interactively prompt for the new user's parameters
-M backend Uses the specified backend rather than the default one listed in the ACCDB configuration file

vgroupdel - Delete a group

groupdel [-A [command]] [-B [command]] [-F] [-M backend] group
-A [command] Runs the specified command after the group was successfully deleted. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -A is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-B [command] Runs the specified command before the group is deleted. It is run always, even if adding fails. command is a string with printf(3)-style %1 positional parameters. If -B is given, but without a command, the default command in the configuration file is not run.
-F userdel will, by default, not delete any groups, of which a user is a primary member of. -F forces to delete the group.
-M backend Uses the specified backend rather than the default one listed in the ACCDB configuration file

vpasswd - Change a user's password

passwd [-l|-u] username

vchown - Change file owner and group

vchown [-R] {user[:group]|:group} FILE[...]


November 28 2003