Contents
During installation, you have chosen a method for user
authentication, either local via /etc/passwd
or (if
a network connection is established), via NIS, LDAP, Kerberos or Samba
(see Section 1.11, “Create New User”). You can create or modify
user accounts and can change the authentication method with YaST
at any time.
Every user is assigned a user ID (UID) which identifies him in the system. Apart from the users which can log in to your machine, there are also a number of system users for internal use only. Each user is assigned to one or more groups. Similar to system users, there are also system groups for internal use. For information about the Linux user and group concept, refer to Section 7.1, “User Concept”.
To administrate users or groups, start YaST and click
+ . The dialog opens, showing a list of users or groups in the system.The dialog provides similar functionality for user and group management. You can easily switch between the user and group administration view by choosing the appropriate tab at the top of the dialog.
Filter options allow you to define the set of users or groups you want to modify: Click
to view and edit users according to certain categories, such as or , for instance (if you are part of a network which uses LDAP). With + you can also set up and use a custom filter.YaST offers to create, modify, delete or temporarily disable user accounts. Do not modify user accounts unless you are an experienced user and know about the implications.
![]() | Changing User IDs of Existing Users |
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After a user ID change, the user will no longer own the files he formerly created in the file system other since file ownership is bound to the user ID, not to the user name. Only the files in the user's home directory are automatically adjusted to reflect this change. |
In the following, learn how to set up default user accounts. For some special options, such as auto login, login without password, setting up encrypted home directories or managing quotas for users and groups, refer to Section 5.2, “Special Options”.
Procedure 5.1. Adding or Modifying User Accounts
Open the YaST
dialog in the view.With
define the set of users you want to manage. The dialog shows a list of users in the system and the groups the users belong to.To modify options for an existing user, select an entry and click
.Click
to create a new user account.Enter the appropriate user data on the first tab, such as
(which is used for login) and . This data is sufficient to create a new user. If you click now, the system will automatically assign a user ID and set all other values according to the default.Activate root
and the user can read
the system mail without having to log in as root
first.
If you want to adjust further details such as the user ID or the path to the user's home directory, do so on the
tab.If you need to relocate the home directory of an existing user, enter the path to the new home directory there and move the contents of the current home directory with
. Otherwise a new home directory is created without any of the existing data.To force users to regularly change their password or set other password options, switch to
and adjust the options.If all options are set according to your wishes, click
.Click
+ to save all changes without exiting the administration dialog. Or click to close the administration dialog and to save the changes. A newly added user can now log in to the system using the login name and password you created.![]() | Matching User IDs |
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For a new (local) user on a laptop which should also integrate in a network environment where this user already has a user ID, it is useful to match the (local) user ID to the ID in the network. This ensures that the file ownership of the files the user creates “offline” is the same as if he created them directly on the network. |
Procedure 5.2. Disabling or Deleting User Accounts
Open the YaST
dialog in the view.To temporarily disable a user account without deleting it, select the user from the list and click
. Activate . The user cannot log in to your machine until you enable the account again.To delete a user account, select the user from the list and click
. Choose if you also want to delete the user's home directory or if you want to retain the data.Procedure 5.3. Assigning Users to Groups
Local users are assigned to several groups according to the default settings which you can access from the
dialog on the tab. To adjust the group assignment for a user, proceed as follows:Open the YaST
dialog in the view. It shows a list of users and of the groups the users belong to.Click
and switch to the tab.To change the primary group the user belongs to, click
and select the group from the list.To assign the user to additional secondary groups, activate the corresponding check boxes in the
list.Click
to apply your changes.Click
+ to save all changes without exiting the administration dialog. Or click to close the administration dialog and to save the changes.