How to Create and Manage Users on Linux

User Management on Linux

Linux is a multi-user system. Each person (or service) should have their own account. As the administrator, you create and manage these accounts from the terminal.

Creating a New User

Use useradd to create a user. The -m flag creates a home directory at /home/username and -s sets the default shell:

sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash alice

On Ubuntu you can also use the friendlier adduser command, which walks you through the process interactively:

sudo adduser alice

Setting a Password

A new account has no password by default. Set one with:

sudo passwd alice

To change your own password:

passwd

Granting sudo Access

To let a user run commands as root (with sudo), add them to the sudo group (Debian/Ubuntu) or the wheel group (Fedora/Arch):

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo usermod -aG sudo alice

# Fedora / Arch
sudo usermod -aG wheel alice

The user needs to log out and back in for the group change to take effect. Verify with:

groups alice

Managing Groups

Create a new group:

sudo groupadd developers

Add a user to a group (-a appends without removing existing groups):

sudo usermod -aG developers alice

List all groups a user belongs to:

groups alice

Deleting a User

Remove a user but keep their home directory:

sudo userdel alice

Remove the user and their home directory:

sudo userdel -r alice

Quick Reference

• sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash alice — create user with home dir
• sudo passwd alice — set password
• sudo usermod -aG sudo alice — grant sudo
• groups alice — list groups
• sudo userdel -r alice — delete user and home