Useradd or Add User

Useradd or Add User

2024, Oct 29    

Useradd vs adduser

The main differences between the useradd and adduser commands in Linux are:

useradd is a lower-level command that requires additional parameters to set up an account, while adduser is a higher-level command that adds a user with standard settings.

  • Availability: useradd is available on all Linux distributions, while adduser is not available on all Linux distributions.

    adduser

  • Interaction: adduser is more user-friendly and interactive than useradd.
  • adduser asks for additional information such as full name, room number, work phone, and home phone. useradd does not ask for any additional information.

useradd

  • useradd does not create a home directory for the new user by default.
  • The useradd command creates a new user account with a fresh home directory, default shell, and system-wide settings. The login parameter must be a unique string, and the user name cannot use the ALL or default keywords.
  • useradd does not create password information for a user.

Final

  • adduser : common way to add user, password, and home dir
  • *useradd : quick and dirty –no password created