useradd(8)

System Management Commands

useradd(8)

НАЗВА

useradd - створення запису користувача або оновлення відомостей щодо типового нового користувача

КОРОТКИЙ ОГЛЯД

useradd [options] LOGIN

useradd -D

useradd -D [options]

ОПИС

When invoked without the -D option, the useradd command creates a new user account using the values specified on the command line plus the default values from the system. Depending on command line options, the useradd command will update system files and may also create the new user's home directory and copy initial files.

By default, a group will also be created for the new user (see -g, -N, -U, and USERGROUPS_ENAB).

ПАРАМЕТРИ

The options which apply to the useradd command are:

--badname

Дозволити назви, які не відповідають стандартам.

-b, --base-dir BASE_DIR

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

--btrfs-subvolume-home

Create the user's home directory as a Btrfs subvolume.

If this option is not specified, useradd will follow the default behavior defined by the BTRFS_SUBVOLUME_HOME variable in /etc/default/useradd. If this variable is not set, the default value is no.

When the --btrfs-subvolume-home command-line option is specified, a Btrfs subvolume is created regardless of any configuration file settings.

Subvolumes are only created for regular users, whose UID is within the UID_MIN-UID_MAX range defined in /etc/login.defs. System users get a regular home directory instead. Set the BTRFS_SUBVOLUME_SYSTEM variable in /etc/default/useradd to yes to create subvolumes for system users as well. If this variable is not set, the default value is no.

If the parent directory of the user's home directory is not on a Btrfs filesystem, useradd will not create a subvolume. Instead, it creates a regular directory, prints a warning to standard error, and logs the event via syslog at level LOG_WARN. The user account is still created successfully.

If the filesystem type cannot be determined (e.g., because of insufficient permissions, an I/O error, or a statfs(2) failure), useradd treats this as a fatal error: the home directory is not created, the command exits with a non-zero status (E_HOMEDIR, 12), and an error message is printed.

-c, --comment COMMENT

Будь-який рядок тексту. Зазвичай, це короткий опис облікового запису. У поточній версії використано як поле для повного імені користувача.

-d, --home-dir HOME_DIR

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 is not created by default. However it will be created for non-system users if either the -m flag is specified or CREATE_HOME in login.defs is set to true. However, it will never be created if the -M flag is specified.

-D, --defaults

Див. нижче, підрозділ «Зміна типових значень».

-e, --expiredate EXPIRE_DATE

Sets the date on which the user account will be disabled. The value can be specified as a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format or as a number of days since 1970-01-01. The date is interpreted using the UTC timezone.

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

-f, --inactive INACTIVE

Defines the number of days after a password exceeds its maximum age before the user account gets locked. If the user does not change their password within this period of time, their account becomes inactive. This value is stored in the shadow password file. For more information, see shadow(5).

A value of 0 disables the account when the password expires, with no delay.

A value of -1 empties the respective field in the shadow password file, which means that the inactivity period is not enforced.

If not specified, useradd uses the default inactivity period specified by the INACTIVE variable in /etc/default/useradd, or -1 by default if no value is specified.

-F, --add-subids-for-system

Update /etc/subuid and /etc/subgid even when creating a system account with -r option.

-g, --gid GROUP

Назва або номер основної групи користувача. Відповідна група має існувати. Номер групи має вказувати на вже наявну групу.

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 the 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 1000 by default.

-G, --groups GROUP1[,GROUP2,...[,GROUPN]]]

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. In addition to passing in the -G flag, you can add the option GROUPS to the file /etc/default/useradd which in turn will add all users to those supplementary groups.

-h, --help

Показати довідкове повідомлення і завершити роботу.

-k, --skel SKEL_DIR

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.

Absolute symlinks that link back to the skel directory will have the /etc/skel prefix replaced with the user's home directory.

Якщо можна, буде скопійовано ACL і розширені атрибути.

-K, --key KEY=VALUE

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 an account to turn off password aging. Multiple -K options can be specified, e.g.: -K UID_MIN =100 -K UID_MAX=499

-l, --no-log-init

Не додавати користувача до баз даних lastlog і faillog.

Типово, записи користувачів у базах даних lastlog і faillog буде скинуто до початкових даних, щоб уникнути повторного використання записів, які лишилися від раніше вилучених користувачів.

If this option is not specified, useradd will also consult the variable LOG_INIT in the /etc/default/useradd if set to no the user will not be added to the lastlog and faillog databases.

-m, --create-home

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.

Каталог, де буде створено домашній каталог користувача, має існувати і мати належний контекст SELinux і права доступу. Якщо ці умови не буде виконано, програма не зможе створити домашній каталог користувача або створений каталог буде недоступним.

-M, --no-create-home

Do not create the user's home directory, even if the system wide setting from /etc/login.defs (CREATE_HOME) is set to yes.

-N, --no-user-group

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.

-o, --non-unique

Дозволяє створення облікового запису із наявним UID.

This option is only valid in combination with the -u option. As a user identity serves as key to map between users on one hand and permissions, file ownerships and other aspects that determine the system's behavior on the other hand, more than one login name will access the account of the given UID.

-p, --password PASSWORD

defines an initial password for the account. PASSWORD is expected to be encrypted, as returned by crypt (3). Within a shell script, this option allows to create efficiently batches of users.

Without this option, the new account will be locked and with no password defined, i.e. a single exclamation mark in the respective field of /etc/shadow. This is a state where the user won't be able to access the account or to define a password himself.

Note:Avoid this option on the command line because the password (or encrypted password) will be visible by users listing the processes.

Вам слід переконатися, що пароль відповідає правилам складання паролів системи.

-r, --system

Створити загальносистемний обліковий запис.

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.

Note that this option will not update /etc/subuid and /etc/subgid. You have to specify the -F options if you want to update the files for a system account to be created.

-R, --root CHROOT_DIR

Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the CHROOT_DIR directory. Only absolute paths are supported. No SELINUX support.

-P, --prefix PREFIX_DIR

Apply changes to configuration files under the root filesystem found under the directory PREFIX_DIR. 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.

-s, --shell SHELL

sets the path to the user's login shell. Without this option, the system will use the SHELL variable specified in /etc/default/useradd, or, if that is as well not set, the field for the login shell in /etc/passwd remains empty.

-u, --uid UID

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.

-U, --user-group

Створити групу, назва якої збігається із назвою облікового запису користувача, додати користувача до цієї групи.

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

-Z, --selinux-user SEUSER

defines the SELinux user for the new account. Without this option, SELinux uses the default user. Note that the shadow system doesn't store the selinux-user, it uses semanage(8) for that.

--selinux-range SERANGE

defines the SELinux MLS range for the new account. Without this option, SELinux uses the default range. Note that the shadow system doesn't store the selinux-range, it uses semanage(8) for that.

This option is only valid if the -Z (or --selinux-user) option is specified.

Зміна типових значень

When invoked with only the -D option, useradd will display the current default values. When invoked with -D plus other options, useradd will update the default values for the specified options. Valid default-changing options are:

-b, --base-dir BASE_DIR

sets the path prefix for a new user's home directory. The user's name will be affixed to the end of BASE_DIR to form the new user's home directory name, if the -d option is not used when creating a new account.

This option sets the HOME variable in /etc/default/useradd.

-e, --expiredate EXPIRE_DATE

Встановлює дату вимикання новостворених облікових записів користувачів.

This option sets the EXPIRE variable in /etc/default/useradd.

-f, --inactive INACTIVE

specifies the number of days after a password expires during which the user can still log in. After this period, the account is locked.

This option sets the INACTIVE variable in /etc/default/useradd.

-g, --gid GROUP

Встановлює типову основну групу для новостворених записів користувачів. Можна вказати назву групи або числовий ідентифікатор групи. Вказана за назвою група має існувати, а GID має бути наявним записом.

This option sets the GROUP variable in /etc/default/useradd.

-s, --shell SHELL

Визначає типову оболонку входу для нових користувачів.

This option sets the SHELL variable in /etc/default/useradd.

ПРИМІТКИ

The system administrator is responsible for placing the default user files in the /etc/skel/ directory (or any other skeleton directory specified in /etc/default/useradd or on the command line).

ЗАСТЕРЕЖЕННЯ

Не можна додавати користувача до групи NIS або LDAP. Для таких груп цю дію має бути виконано на відповідному сервері.

Similarly, if the username already exists in an external user database such as NIS or LDAP, useradd will deny the user account creation request.

Usernames may contain only lower and upper case letters, digits, underscores, dashes, or dots. They can end with a dollar sign. Dashes are not allowed at the beginning of the username. Fully numeric usernames and usernames . or .. are also disallowed. It is not recommended to use usernames beginning with . character as their home directories will be hidden in the ls output.

Довжина імен користувачів не може перевищувати 256 символи.

НАЛАШТУВАННЯ

The following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change the behavior of this tool:

CREATE_HOME (boolean)

Визначає, чи слід створювати типовий домашній каталог для створених записів користувачів.

Цей параметр не стосується загальносистемних користувачів; його можна перевизначити у рядку команди.

GID_MAX (number), GID_MIN (number)

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).

HOME_MODE (number)

The mode for new home directories. If not specified, the UMASK is used to create the mode.

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

LASTLOG_UID_MAX (number)

Найбільший числовий ідентифікатор користувача, для якого має бути оновлено записи lastlog. Оскільки великі числові ідентифікатори користувачів, зазвичай, відповідають профілям віддалених користувачів і службам розпізнавання, немає потреби створювати для них величезні розріджені файли lastlog.

No LASTLOG_UID_MAX option present in the configuration means that there is no user ID limit for writing lastlog entries.

MAIL_DIR (string)

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. The parameter CREATE_MAIL_SPOOL in /etc/default/useradd determines whether the mail spool should be created.

MAIL_FILE (string)

Визначає місце файлів буферів пошти користувачів відносно домашнього каталогу.

The MAIL_DIR and MAIL_FILE variables are used by useradd, usermod, and userdel to create, move, or delete the user's mail spool.

MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP (number)

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).

Типовий є значення 0, що означає, що обмеження на кількість учасників у групі не накладатимуться.

Ця можливість (поділ груп) призначено для обмеження довжини рядків у файлі груп. Це корисно для забезпечення того, щоб рядки у групах NIS не ставали довшими за 1024 символів.

Якщо вам потрібно примусово встановити таке обмеження, ви можете скористатися значенням 25.

Зауваження: підтримку поділу груп не обов'язково передбачено в усіх програмах (навіть у засобах комплексу Shadow). Вам не слід користуватися цією змінною, якщо у ній немає потреби.

PASS_MAX_DAYS (number)

Максимальна кількість днів, протягом яких можна користуватися паролем. Якщо вік пароля перевищить вказаний, система вимагатиме від користувача змінити пароль. Якщо значення не вказано, буде використано значення -1 (обмеження вимкнено).

PASS_WARN_AGE (number)

The number of days warning given before a password expires. A zero means warning is given only upon the day of expiration, a value of -1 means no warning is given. If not specified, no warning will be provided.

SUB_GID_MIN (number), SUB_GID_MAX (number), SUB_GID_COUNT (number)

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.

SUB_GID_DETERMINISTIC (boolean)

If set to yes, the commands useradd, usermod, and newusers will calculate subordinate GID ranges deterministically based on the user's UID instead of searching for the next free range. The formula used is:

      start = SUB_GID_MIN + ((UID - UID_MIN) * SUB_GID_COUNT)
      end   = start + SUB_GID_COUNT - 1

This ensures the same UID always receives the same subordinate GID range on every system, making it suitable for environments with centralized user management (LDAP, NIS, etc.) or synchronized UIDs across systems.

If SUB_GID_DETERMINISTIC is enabled, you can use usermod --add-subgids -S to produce deterministic subgids.

WARNING: Because UID_MIN is used to calculate the ranges, any change of UID_MIN will change the ranges calculated. SUB_GID_COUNT is used to calculate the ranges, any change of SUB_GID_COUNT will change the ranges calculated. Users with identities less than UID_MIN are incompatible with SUB_GID_DETERMINISTIC, but can still be set manually.

WARNING: Do not mix deterministic and linear (default) allocation on the same system or across systems sharing /etc/subgid via network storage (NFS, etc.). Mixing allocation methods will cause subordinate ID range conflicts and overlaps .

The default value for SUB_GID_DETERMINISTIC is no.

Range Calculation Examples

With default configuration (UID_MIN=1000, SUB_GID_MIN=100000, SUB_GID_COUNT=65536):

UID	Calculation	Subordinate GID Range
1000	100000 + ((1000-1000) * 65536)	100000-165535
1001	100000 + ((1001-1000) * 65536)	165536-231071
1002	100000 + ((1002-1000) * 65536)	231072-296607
1100	100000 + ((1100-1000) * 65536)	6653600-6719135

Subordinate ID Space Planning

When planning subordinate ID allocation, calculate the maximum number of users the space can accommodate:

      capacity = (SUB_GID_MAX - SUB_GID_MIN) / SUB_GID_COUNT

With default values: (600100000 - 100000) / 65536 ≈ 9155 users.

For high-density environments with many users and smaller allocations:

        SUB_GID_COUNT  4096
        SUB_GID_MIN    100000
        SUB_GID_MAX    10000000

This gives: (10000000 - 100000) / 4096 ≈ 2417 users.

UNSAFE_SUB_GID_DETERMINISTIC_WRAP (boolean)

WARNING: SECURITY RISK - MAY CAUSE RANGE OVERLAPS AND PRIVILEGE ESCALATION!

Only effective when SUB_GID_DETERMINISTIC is set to yes.

When set to yes (WRAP MODE), allows the deterministic range calculation to wrap around using modulo arithmetic when a UID would overflow the configured subordinate ID space. The subordinate ID space is treated as a ring buffer.

WARNING: Range overlaps can lead to container escapes and privilege escalation. For example, with SUB_GID_MIN=100000, SUB_GID_MAX=200000, SUB_GID_COUNT=65536, User A (UID 1000) gets range [100000, 165535] and User B (UID 1001) wraps and overlaps with User A. User B's container can now access files from User A's containers.

Use only in development, testing, or tightly constrained lab environments.

When set to no (default), any arithmetic overflow or range exceeding SUB_GID_MAX is a hard error. This guarantees non-overlapping, monotonic allocation.

The default value for UNSAFE_SUB_GID_DETERMINISTIC_WRAP is no.

SUB_UID_MIN (number), SUB_UID_MAX (number), SUB_UID_COUNT (number)

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.

SUB_UID_DETERMINISTIC (boolean)

If set to yes, the commands useradd, usermod, and newusers will calculate subordinate UID ranges deterministically based on the user's UID instead of searching for the next free range. The formula used is:

      start = SUB_UID_MIN + ((UID - UID_MIN) * SUB_UID_COUNT)
      end   = start + SUB_UID_COUNT - 1

This ensures the same UID always receives the same subordinate UID range on every system, making it suitable for environments with centralized user management (LDAP, NIS, etc.) or synchronized UIDs across systems.

If SUB_UID_DETERMINISTIC is enabled, you can use usermod --add-subuids -S to produce deterministic subuids.

WARNING: Because UID_MIN is used to calculate the ranges, any change of UID_MIN will change the ranges calculated. SUB_UID_COUNT is used to calculate the ranges, any change of SUB_UID_COUNT will change the ranges calculated. Users with identities less than UID_MIN are incompatible with SUB_UID_DETERMINISTIC, but can still be set manually.

WARNING: Do not mix deterministic and linear (default) allocation on the same system or across systems sharing /etc/subuid via network storage (NFS, etc.). Mixing allocation methods will cause subordinate ID range conflicts and overlaps .

The default value for SUB_UID_DETERMINISTIC is no.

Range Calculation Examples

With default configuration (UID_MIN=1000, SUB_UID_MIN=100000, SUB_UID_COUNT=65536):

UID	Calculation	Subordinate UID Range
1000	100000 + ((1000-1000) * 65536)	100000-165535
1001	100000 + ((1001-1000) * 65536)	165536-231071
1002	100000 + ((1002-1000) * 65536)	231072-296607
1100	100000 + ((1100-1000) * 65536)	6653600-6719135

Subordinate ID Space Planning

When planning subordinate ID allocation, calculate the maximum number of users the space can accommodate:

      capacity = (SUB_UID_MAX - SUB_UID_MIN) / SUB_UID_COUNT

With default values: (600100000 - 100000) / 65536 ≈ 9155 users.

For high-density environments with many users and smaller allocations:

        SUB_UID_COUNT  4096
        SUB_UID_MIN    100000
        SUB_UID_MAX    10000000

This gives: (10000000 - 100000) / 4096 ≈ 2417 users.

UNSAFE_SUB_UID_DETERMINISTIC_WRAP (boolean)

WARNING: SECURITY RISK - MAY CAUSE RANGE OVERLAPS AND PRIVILEGE ESCALATION!

Only effective when SUB_UID_DETERMINISTIC is set to yes.

WARNING: Range overlaps can lead to container escapes and privilege escalation. For example, with SUB_UID_MIN=100000, SUB_UID_MAX=200000, SUB_UID_COUNT=65536, User A (UID 1000) gets range [100000, 165535] and User B (UID 1001) wraps and overlaps with User A. User B's container can now access files from User A's containers.

Use only in development, testing, or tightly constrained lab environments.

When set to no (default), any arithmetic overflow or range exceeding SUB_UID_MAX is a hard error. This guarantees non-overlapping, monotonic allocation.

The default value for UNSAFE_SUB_UID_DETERMINISTIC_WRAP is no.

SYS_GID_MAX (number), SYS_GID_MIN (number)

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).

SYS_UID_MAX (number), SYS_UID_MIN (number)

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).

UID_MAX (number), UID_MIN (number)

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).

UMASK (number)

Маску режиму доступу для створення файлів буде встановлено у це значення. Якщо не вказано, маску буде ініціалізовано у значення 022.

useradd and newusers use this mask to set the mode of the home directory they create if HOME_MODE is not set.

It is also used by pam_umask as the default umask value.

USERGROUPS_ENAB (boolean)

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.

ФАЙЛИ

/etc/passwd

Відомості щодо облікових записів користувача.

/etc/shadow

Відомості щодо захищених облікових записів користувачів.

/etc/group

Відомості щодо груп облікових записів.

/etc/gshadow

Відомості щодо захищених груп облікових записів.

/etc/default/useradd

Типові значення для створення облікового запису.

/etc/shadow-maint/useradd-pre.d/*, /etc/shadow-maint/useradd-post.d/*

Run-part files to execute during user addition. The environment variable ACTION will be populated with useradd and SUBJECT with the username. useradd-pre.d will be executed prior to any user addition. useradd-post.d will execute after user addition. If a script exits non-zero then execution will terminate.

/etc/skel/

Каталог, у якому містяться типові файли.

/etc/subgid

Окремі для користувачів ідентифікатори підлеглих груп.

/etc/subuid

Окремі для користувачів ідентифікатори підлеглих користувачів.

/etc/login.defs

Налаштування комплексу для роботи з прихованими паролями.

ЗНАЧЕННЯ ВИХОДУ

The useradd command exits with the following values:

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 or group name already in use

can't update group file

can't create home directory

can't update SELinux user mapping

invalid user or group name

ДИВ. ТАКОЖ

chfn(1), chsh(1), passwd(1), crypt(3), groupadd(8), groupdel(8), groupmod(8), login.defs(5), newusers(8), subgid(5), subuid(5), userdel(8), usermod(8).

30/07/2026

shadow-utils 4.20.0