The default base directory for the system if -d HOME_DIR is not specified. BASE_DIR is concatenated with the account name to define the home directory. If the -m option is not used, BASE_DIR must exist.

If this option is not specified, useradd will use the base directory specified by the HOME variable in /etc/default/useradd, or /home by default.

Any text string. It is generally a short description of the login, and is currently used as the field for the user's full name.

The new user will be created using HOME_DIR as the value for the user's login directory. The default is to append the LOGIN name to BASE_DIR and use that as the login directory name. The directory HOME_DIR does not have to exist but will not be created if it is missing.

See below, the subsection "Changing the default values".

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

If not specified, useradd will use the default expiry date specified by the EXPIRE variable in /etc/default/useradd, or an empty string (no expiry) by default.

The number of days after a password expires until the account is permanently disabled. A value of 0 disables the account as soon as the password has expired, and a value of -1 disables the feature.

If not specified, useradd will use the default inactivity period specified by the INACTIVE variable in /etc/default/useradd, or -1 by default.

The group name or number of the user's initial login group. The group name must exist. A group number must refer to an already existing group.

If not specified, the behavior of useradd will depend on the USERGROUPS_ENAB variable in /etc/login.defs. If this variable is set to yes (or -U/--user-group is specified on the command line), a group will be created for the user, with the same name as her loginname. If the variable is set to no (or -N/--no-user-group is specified on the command line), useradd will set the primary group of the new user to the value specified by the GROUP variable in /etc/default/useradd, or 100 by default.

A list of supplementary groups which the user is also a member of. Each group is separated from the next by a comma, with no intervening whitespace. The groups are subject to the same restrictions as the group given with the -g option. The default is for the user to belong only to the initial group.

Display help message and exit.

The skeleton directory, which contains files and directories to be copied in the user's home directory, when the home directory is created by useradd.

This option is only valid if the -m (or --create-home) option is specified.

If this option is not set, the skeleton directory is defined by the SKEL variable in /etc/default/useradd or, by default, /etc/skel.

If possible, the ACLs and extended attributes are copied.

Overrides /etc/login.defs defaults (UID_MIN, UID_MAX, UMASK, PASS_MAX_DAYS and others).

Example: -K PASS_MAX_DAYS=-1 can be used when creating system account to turn off password aging, even though system account has no password at all. Multiple -K options can be specified, e.g.: -K UID_MIN=100  -K UID_MAX=499

Do not add the user to the lastlog and faillog databases.

By default, the user's entries in the lastlog and faillog databases are reset to avoid reusing the entry from a previously deleted user.

Create the user's home directory if it does not exist. The files and directories contained in the skeleton directory (which can be defined with the -k option) will be copied to the home directory.

By default, if this option is not specified and CREATE_HOME is not enabled, no home directories are created.

The directory where the user's home directory is created must exist and have proper SELinux context and permissions. Otherwise the user's home directory cannot be created or accessed.

Do no create the user's home directory, even if the system wide setting from /etc/login.defs (CREATE_HOME) is set to yes.

Do not create a group with the same name as the user, but add the user to the group specified by the -g option or by the GROUP variable in /etc/default/useradd.

The default behavior (if the -g, -N, and -U options are not specified) is defined by the USERGROUPS_ENAB variable in /etc/login.defs.

Allow the creation of a user account with a duplicate (non-unique) UID.

This option is only valid in combination with the -u option.

The encrypted password, as returned by crypt(3). The default is to disable the password.

Note: This option is not recommended because the password (or encrypted password) will be visible by users listing the processes.

You should make sure the password respects the system's password policy.

Create a system account.

System users will be created with no aging information in /etc/shadow, and their numeric identifiers are chosen in the SYS_UID_MIN-SYS_UID_MAX range, defined in /etc/login.defs, instead of UID_MIN-UID_MAX (and their GID counterparts for the creation of groups).

Note that useradd will not create a home directory for such a user, regardless of the default setting in /etc/login.defs (CREATE_HOME). You have to specify the -m options if you want a home directory for a system account to be created.

Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the CHROOT_DIR directory.

Apply changes in the PREFIX_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the PREFIX_DIR directory. This option does not chroot and is intended for preparing a cross-compilation target. Some limitations: NIS and LDAP users/groups are not verified. PAM authentication is using the host files. No SELINUX support.

The name of the user's login shell. The default is to leave this field blank, which causes the system to select the default login shell specified by the SHELL variable in /etc/default/useradd, or an empty string by default.

The numerical value of the user's ID. This value must be unique, unless the -o option is used. The value must be non-negative. The default is to use the smallest ID value greater than or equal to UID_MIN and greater than every other user.

See also the -r option and the UID_MAX description.

Create a group with the same name as the user, and add the user to this group.

The default behavior (if the -g, -N, and -U options are not specified) is defined by the USERGROUPS_ENAB variable in /etc/login.defs.

The SELinux user for the user's login. The default is to leave this field blank, which causes the system to select the default SELinux user.

Indicate if a home directory should be created by default for new users.

This setting does not apply to system users, and can be overridden on the command line.

Range of group IDs used for the creation of regular groups by useradd, groupadd, or newusers.

The default value for GID_MIN (resp. GID_MAX) is 1000 (resp. 60000).

The mail spool directory. This is needed to manipulate the mailbox when its corresponding user account is modified or deleted. If not specified, a compile-time default is used.

Defines the location of the users mail spool files relatively to their home directory.

Maximum members per group entry. When the maximum is reached, a new group entry (line) is started in /etc/group (with the same name, same password, and same GID).

The default value is 0, meaning that there are no limits in the number of members in a group.

This feature (split group) permits to limit the length of lines in the group file. This is useful to make sure that lines for NIS groups are not larger than 1024 characters.

If you need to enforce such limit, you can use 25.

Note: split groups may not be supported by all tools (even in the Shadow toolsuite). You should not use this variable unless you really need it.

The maximum number of days a password may be used. If the password is older than this, a password change will be forced. If not specified, -1 will be assumed (which disables the restriction).

The minimum number of days allowed between password changes. Any password changes attempted sooner than this will be rejected. If not specified, -1 will be assumed (which disables the restriction).

The number of days warning given before a password expires. A zero means warning is given only upon the day of expiration, a negative value means no warning is given. If not specified, no warning will be provided.

If /etc/subuid exists, the commands useradd and newusers (unless the user already have subordinate group IDs) allocate SUB_GID_COUNT unused group IDs from the range SUB_GID_MIN to SUB_GID_MAX for each new user.

The default values for SUB_GID_MIN, SUB_GID_MAX, SUB_GID_COUNT are respectively 100000, 600100000 and 65536.

If /etc/subuid exists, the commands useradd and newusers (unless the user already have subordinate user IDs) allocate SUB_UID_COUNT unused user IDs from the range SUB_UID_MIN to SUB_UID_MAX for each new user.

The default values for SUB_UID_MIN, SUB_UID_MAX, SUB_UID_COUNT are respectively 100000, 600100000 and 65536.

Range of group IDs used for the creation of system groups by useradd, groupadd, or newusers.

The default value for SYS_GID_MIN (resp. SYS_GID_MAX) is 101 (resp. GID_MIN-1).

Range of user IDs used for the creation of system users by useradd or newusers.

The default value for SYS_UID_MIN (resp. SYS_UID_MAX) is 101 (resp. UID_MIN-1).

Range of user IDs used for the creation of regular users by useradd or newusers.

The default value for UID_MIN (resp. UID_MAX) is 1000 (resp. 60000).

The file mode creation mask is initialized to this value. If not specified, the mask will be initialized to 022.

useradd and newusers use this mask to set the mode of the home directory they create

It is also used by login to define users' initial umask. Note that this mask can be overridden by the user's GECOS line (if QUOTAS_ENAB is set) or by the specification of a limit with the K identifier in limits(5).

Enable setting of the umask group bits to be the same as owner bits (examples: 022 -> 002, 077 -> 007) for non-root users, if the uid is the same as gid, and username is the same as the primary group name.

If set to yes, userdel will remove the user's group if it contains no more members, and useradd will create by default a group with the name of the user.

User account information.

Secure user account information.

Group account information.

Secure group account information.

Default values for account creation.

Directory containing default files.

Per user subordinate group IDs.

Per user subordinate user IDs.

Shadow password suite configuration.

success

can't update password file

invalid command syntax

invalid argument to option

UID already in use (and no -o)

specified group doesn't exist

username already in use

can't update group file

can't create home directory

can't update SELinux user mapping