Installation guide

9
Administering User Accounts and
Groups
Adding, modifying, and removing individual user accounts and groups of
users is a routine but important activity that a system administrator
frequently performs.
After introducing user account and group administration, this chapter
describes the following tasks:
• Adding a user account
• Changing information in a user account
• Removing a user account
• Adding and removing a group
_______________________ Note _______________________
You can also use the SysMan dxaccounts command to perform
these tasks.
9.1 Understanding User Accounts and Groups
Administering user accounts and groups involves managing the contents of
the system’s password and group files. On standalone systems, the files you
manage are /etc/passwd, which is documented in passwd
(1), and
/etc/group, which is documented in group
(4).
On networked systems, typically, the Network Information Service (NIS) is
for central account and group management. NIS allows participating
systems to share a common set of password and group files. See the
Network Administration manual for more information.
If enhanced security is enabled on your system, you need to administer
more than the /etc/passwd file for security. For example, the protected
password database is used for security related information such as
minimum password lengths and password expiration times. These tasks
are documented in the Security manual.
Administering User Accounts and Groups 9–1