Complete explanation.

[Zyxian]

Hello.
Where can I find complete description of the options for adduser? I'm using RH9. Man page doesn't tell me enough. For instance (from the man page):

-e expire_date
The date on which the user account will be disabled. The date
is specified in the format YYYY-MM-DD.

This doesn't tell me what the default is if I don't use this option or how to disable an expiration date.

I've searched google and yahoo. Most of the results give basiclly the man pages.

Any good links?

Zyxian
I Learn More When Something Goes Wrong.

 

[sleipnir214]

Sorry, I don't know of more explicit documentation.

The default for useradd and usermod is no expiration.

To change the expiration to a specific date, you would use the usermod command.

If you want to configure a password so that it never expires, you may have to (as root) edit /etc/shadow. Perform "man 5 shadow" to see the format of the shadow file.


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!

 

[Zyxian]

sleipnir214,
Thanks for the reply.
I begining to think that there isn't such documentation out there.
Hmmm.... Sounds like a need to be filled. I know I would buy it if it was written.

Zyxian
I Learn More When Something Goes Wrong.

 

[sleipnir214]

If you think it could be done better, step in and offer to help correct the problem -- that's the Open Source Way.

The authors of man pages often list their email addresses at the end of pages. You might look at the man pages for useradd, usermod and userdel and contact the author or authors listed there.


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!

 

[wbg34]

You can try the info page (info adduser)
As to your other questions:
there is no default value for the -e switch. You have to input an argument or adduser will fail.
To disable account expiration dont use the -e switch. Not using the -e switch disables the account expiration for a user.

 

[tarn]

Once you learn a little more *nix you will know that users access is controled by a number of files, /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow and /etc/group to name but a few .....

Therefore it would make sence to learn about each of them there is a welth of information out on the internet and a number of good books avalible too, however you would learn quite a lot from man passwd, man shadow, man group, man useradd, man userdel, man usermod all of which piece together to give you the information you need.

Dont just read the man pages though, touch, squeeze, bite and READ the actual files them selves.

This is how you learn *nix, there are 101 different ways to do the same thing in *nix and it would be impractical to document every keypress in the man pages.

In short .. read man shadow and then look at YOUR shadow file to understand what you just read.

Good Luck,
Laurie.

 

[Zyxian]

Thanks everyone.

Zyxian
I Learn More When Something Goes Wrong.