[CentOS] User creation problem

Jim Perrin jperrin at gmail.com
Sat Mar 15 14:17:57 UTC 2008


On Sat, Mar 15, 2008 at 10:11 AM, Anne Wilson
<cannewilson at googlemail.com> wrote:
> system-config-users  is giving me a problem.  I need to create a user
>  called 'groupware', without a home directory, and belonging only to a
>  non-privileged group.  I can create the user, but it sets it to belong to the
>  group 'users'.  When I try to set its default to 'nobody' and delete
>  the 'users' entry it tells me that I must enter a home directory.
>
>  How can I get around this?

Mostly, you don't. Every user has to have a home directory, though
nothing says it has to be in /home

Take a look at how the system accounts for things like rpm or rpc or
others are handled. I'd also recommend using useradd as it gives you a
bit more flexibility when creating users. with useradd you can use -g
and -G to see the primary and secondary group memberships as you need.
Also, unless this account will be logging in or for some other reason
requires a shell, make sure that the shell for the user is set to
/sbin/nologin.


-- 
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
George Orwell



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