# newusers

## NAME



           newusers - update and create new users in batch
    


## SYNOPSIS



    
           **newusers**[_options_] [_file_]
    


## DESCRIPTION



           The **newusers** command reads a _file_ (or the standard input by
           default) and uses this information to update a set of existing
           users or to create new users. Each line is in the same format as
           the standard password file (see passwd(5)) with the exceptions
           explained below:
    
           pw_name:pw_passwd:pw_uid:pw_gid:pw_gecos:pw_dir:pw_shell
    
           _pw_name_
               This is the name of the user.
    
               It can be the name of a new user or the name of an existing
               user (or a user created before by **newusers**). In case of an
               existing user, the user's information will be changed,
               otherwise a new user will be created.
    
           _pw_passwd_
               This field will be encrypted and used as the new value of the
               encrypted password.
    
           _pw_uid_
               This field is used to define the UID of the user.
    
               If the field is empty, a new (unused) UID will be defined
               automatically by **newusers**.
    
               If this field contains a number, this number will be used as
               the UID.
    
               If this field contains the name of an existing user (or the
               name of a user created before by **newusers**), the UID of the
               specified user will be used.
    
               If the UID of an existing user is changed, the files ownership
               of the user's file should be fixed manually.
    
           _pw_gid_
               This field is used to define the primary group ID for the
               user.
    
               If this field contains the name of an existing group (or a
               group created before by **newusers**), the GID of this group will
               be used as the primary group ID for the user.
    
               If this field is a number, this number will be used as the
               primary group ID of the user. If no groups exist with this
               GID, a new group will be created with this GID, and the name
               of the user.
    
               If this field is empty, a new group will be created with the
               name of the user and a GID will be automatically defined by
               **newusers** to be used as the primary group ID for the user and
               as the GID for the new group.
    
               If this field contains the name of a group which does not
               exist (and was not created before by **newusers**), a new group
               will be created with the specified name and a GID will be
               automatically defined by **newusers** to be used as the primary
               group ID for the user and GID for the new group.
    
           _pw_gecos_
               This field is copied in the GECOS field of the user.
    
           _pw_dir_
               This field is used to define the home directory of the user.
    
               If this field does not specify an existing directory, the
               specified directory is created, with ownership set to the user
               being created or updated and its primary group. Note that
               _newusers does not create parent directories_ of the new user's
               home directory. The newusers command will fail to create the
               home directory if the parent directories do not exist, and
               will send a message to stderr informing the user of the
               failure. The newusers command will not halt or return a
               failure to the calling shell if it fails to create the home
               directory, it will continue to process the batch of new users
               specified.
    
               If the home directory of an existing user is changed, **newusers**
               does not move or copy the content of the old directory to the
               new location. This should be done manually.
    
           _pw_shell_
               This field defines the shell of the user. No checks are
               performed on this field.
    
           **newusers** first tries to create or change all the specified users,
           and then write these changes to the user or group databases. If an
           error occurs (except in the final writes to the databases), no
           changes are committed to the databases.
    
           During this first pass, users are created with a locked password
           (and passwords are not changed for the users which are not
           created). A second pass is used to update the passwords using PAM.
           Failures to update a password are reported, but will not stop the
           other password updates.
    
           This command is intended to be used in a large system environment
           where many accounts are updated at a single time.
    


## OPTIONS



           The options which apply to the **newusers** command are:
    
           **--badname**
               Allow names that do not conform to standards.
    
           **-h** , **--help**
               Display help message and exit.
    
           **-r** , **--system**
               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 login.defs, instead
               of **UID_MIN** -**UID_MAX**(and their **GID** counterparts for the
               creation of groups).
    
           **-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.
    


## CAVEATS



           The input file must be protected since it contains unencrypted
           passwords.
    


## CONFIGURATION



           The following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change
           the behavior of this tool:
    
           **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.
    
           **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).
    
               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.
    
           **PASS_MAX_DAYS**(number)
               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).
    
           **PASS_MIN_DAYS**(number)
               The minimum number of days allowed between password changes.
               Any password changes attempted sooner than this will be
               rejected. If not specified, 0 will be assumed (which disables
               the restriction).
    
           **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_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.
    
           **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)
               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 if **HOME_MODE** is not set.
    
               It is also used by **pam_umask** as the default umask value.
    


## FILES



           /etc/passwd
               User account information.
    
           /etc/shadow
               Secure user account information.
    
           /etc/group
               Group account information.
    
           /etc/gshadow
               Secure group account information.
    
           /etc/login.defs
               Shadow password suite configuration.
    
           /etc/pam.d/newusers
               PAM configuration for **newusers**.
    
           /etc/subgid
               Per user subordinate group IDs.
    
           /etc/subuid
               Per user subordinate user IDs.
    


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