Red Hat Training

A Red Hat training course is available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

37.2. User and Group Management Tools

Managing users and groups can be a tedious task; this is why Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides tools and conventions to make them easier to manage.
The easiest way to manage users and groups is through the graphical application, User Manager (system-config-users). For more information on User Manager, refer to Section 37.1, “User and Group Configuration”.
The following command line tools can also be used to manage users and groups:
  • useradd, usermod, and userdel — Industry-standard methods of adding, deleting and modifying user accounts
  • groupadd, groupmod, and groupdel — Industry-standard methods of adding, deleting, and modifying user groups
  • gpasswd — Industry-standard method of administering the /etc/group file
  • pwck, grpck — Tools used for the verification of the password, group, and associated shadow files
  • pwconv, pwunconv — Tools used for the conversion of passwords to shadow passwords and back to standard passwords

37.2.1. Command Line Configuration

If you prefer command line tools or do not have the X Window System installed, use this section to configure users and groups.