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Linux is a multi-user system, meaning multiple users can work collaboratively on a single system. It helps organizations streamline their workflow and divide the workload. Every employee or member who joins the team gets separate user IDs to access the system, and every ID is associated with different permissions(read, write, or execute). That’s why you must know all the aspects of user management to ensure data privacy and system security. However, a Linux administrator needs to know the correct way of creating a user in the system. So, this short guide is about simple methods to create a user in Linux. Although, adduser and useradd commands look similar, they differ in functionality. Hence, let’s look at the best suitable examples of these commands to create hassle-free users. The useradd Command The useradd is a simple command by which you can add any user in the system: sudo useradd -m username The -m option provides the new user with their home directory. The only drawback of the useradd command is that it generates new users without a password. So, to create a password for them, enter the passwd command: sudo passwd username Here, you can add the password for the user. The adduser Command The adduser command is a simpler alternative to useradd. It creates interactive prompts for users to set passwords and other vital details. sudo adduser username After running the command, follow the on-screen prompts to provide the information about the new user. For example, it asks you to provide a password, full name, and other important details for the user. The System Settings Instead of using the terminal, you can create a user from the Settings. First, go to the system settings: Now, search “user” from the search bar: Here, you need to click on the unlock and then provide the password to access the Settings as administrator: Click on the “Add User” and add the required details, including the full name, password, and access privileges: Finally, click on the add button to make changes successful: A Quick Wrap-up User management in Linux is fundamental, and many users still need to learn how to create a user. Hence, in this guide, we have explained the same using three simple methods. The useradd and adduser are two commands that’ll help you accomplish this task using the command line. Alternatively, you can access the System Settings and add the users manually. View the full article

In Linux, you can create groups to organize users having similar privileges collectively in a single place. Groups allow users to share resources, directory access, permissions, etc. Moreover, if you perform any operation on a group, it applies to all of its members, reducing the time consumed to do it manually for everyone. However, as a beginner in Linux administrator, it can be sometimes tricky for you to add and modify users in a group. So, this quick guide is about the simple way to create and add a user to a group in Linux. How to Add a User to a Group in Linux The usermod is the simplest command to add users to the group. You can also use the usermod to modify user attributes like username, password, home directory, group ID, etc. Here is the example of the usermod to add a group: sudo usermod -aG groupID userID The -a option appends users without removing them from the current group. Meanwhile, the -G option lets you specify the group you want to add the specified user. Please replace user_ID and group_ID with the target user and group name(where you want to add them), respectively. So, let’s add a user name, “Prateek,” to the “Developer” group, but first, you need to find the user_ID and group_ID. Hence, you can use the id command for user_ID and getent command for group_ID: id prateek getent group Developer Now, add these values in the usermod command to add a user to the group: sudo usermod -aG Developer prateek Finally, run the below command to verify whether the user is successfully added in a group: groups prateek A Quick Wrap-up Groups streamline the process of managing users and their permissions. Users with sudo privileges can perform many operations, such as user add and delete. However, Linux administrators need to understand the basics of the groups. That’s why we have explained a simple command to add a user to a group in Linux. View the full article