Easy Guide To Add and Remove Users on AlmaLinux 9

This tutorial aims to provide an Ultimate Guide To Add and Remove Users on AlmaLinux 9 from the command line. Users with access to your operating system can perform various tasks, including managing, installing, and updating applications. Each user has a unique ID and password. They can be added to specific groups on your server and assigned specific tasks.

In this guide on the Orcacore website, you will learn how to add new users, add them to groups, and delete users on AlmaLinux 9. This Easy Guide To Add and Remove Users on AlmaLinux 9 will provide a comprehensive overview of the process.

To effectively add and remove users on AlmaLinux 9, you must have access to your server as either a root user or a non-root user with sudo privileges. For assistance with this, you can refer to the guide on Initial Server Setup with AlmaLinux 9.

For detailed information on creating a new user with sudo privileges, follow the steps below.

Easy Steps to Add and remove users on AlmaLinux 9 server — Easy Guide To Add and Remove Users on AlmaLinux 9

Step 1 – Create a New User on AlmaLinux 9

In this step of the Easy Guide To Add and Remove Users on AlmaLinux 9, you can create a new user on your server using the adduser command. For example, to create a new user named "orca":

adduser orca

This command automatically creates a home directory for the user, located at /home/orca. If you want to specify a different home directory, use the -d flag and provide the desired path:

useradd orca -d /path/to/home

Step 2 – Add the User to a Specific Group on AlmaLinux 9

You can add users to specific groups on AlmaLinux 9. Here, we add our user to the "wheel" group, which grants root privileges and allows the user to run sudo commands.

In AlmaLinux 9, the sudoers group is named "wheel". To add the user to this group, use the following command:

usermod -aG wheel orca

This allows the "orca" user to run commands with root privileges. To verify this, use the lid command:

lid orca

**Output**
 wheel(gid=10)
 orca(gid=1000)

You can use this command to add users to different groups.

Step 3 – Set a Password for the User on AlmaLinux 9

By default, newly created users don’t have passwords. You can set a password so they can log in to the server. Use the passwd command. Here, we assign a password to the user "orca" with the following command on AlmaLinux:

passwd orca

You will be prompted to enter a new password and verify it.

**Output**
Changing password for user orca.
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

You can also check the user’s ID and groups with the command below:

id orca

**Output**
uid=1000(orca) gid=1000(orca) groups=1000(orca),10(wheel)

Step 4 – Remove Users on AlmaLinux 9

In this step of the Easy Guide To Add and Remove Users on AlmaLinux 9, if you want to remove a specific user from your AlmaLinux 9 system, use the userdel command.

For example, to delete the "orca" user, run the command:

userdel orca

This command does not remove the user’s home directory. To delete the home directory as well, use the -r flag in your command:

userdel -r orca

That’s it! These are the basic steps to adding and deleting users on AlmaLinux 9.

You can find more information, options, and usage examples by running the help commands:

# useradd --help
# passwd --help
# usermod --help
# userdel --help

Conclusion

At this point, you have learned to use Linux Commands for an ultimate guide to Add and Remove Users on AlmaLinux 9. You can easily use the useradd command to add a user and the userdel command to delete users.

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Alternative Solutions for User Management on AlmaLinux 9

While the command-line tools like useradd, usermod, and userdel are fundamental for user management, alternative solutions exist that can offer different functionalities or cater to specific needs. Here are two different approaches:

1. Using Cockpit Web Console for User Management

Cockpit is a web-based interface for managing your AlmaLinux server. It provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for performing various administrative tasks, including user management.

Explanation:

Cockpit simplifies user management by providing a visual interface. Instead of remembering command-line syntax, you can create, modify, and delete users through a web browser. This can be particularly helpful for users who are not comfortable with the command line. It also handles the underlying commands, making it less error-prone for beginners.

Steps:

Install Cockpit: If Cockpit is not already installed, you can install it using the following command:
```
sudo dnf install cockpit
```

Enable and Start Cockpit:

sudo systemctl enable --now cockpit.socket

Access Cockpit: Open a web browser and navigate to https://your_server_ip:9090. You may need to accept a self-signed certificate if you haven’t configured a proper SSL certificate.
Log In: Log in with your root user credentials or a user with sudo privileges.
Navigate to Accounts: In the Cockpit interface, navigate to the "Accounts" section.
Manage Users: From the "Accounts" section, you can add new users, edit existing users (including their groups and passwords), and delete users. The interface is self-explanatory, guiding you through each step.

Advantages:

User-Friendly GUI: Simplifies user management for those unfamiliar with the command line.
Remote Management: Access your server and manage users from any web browser.
Centralized Management: Cockpit provides a single interface for managing various aspects of your server, not just users.

Disadvantages:

Overhead: Cockpit adds a layer of overhead to the server, although it is generally minimal.
GUI Dependency: Requires a web browser and network access.

2. Utilizing Ansible for Automated User Management

Ansible is an automation tool that can be used to manage and configure systems. It allows you to define user management tasks in a declarative way, making it easy to automate the process across multiple servers. This approach is particularly useful for managing users on a large scale or when ensuring consistency across multiple systems.

Explanation:

Instead of manually adding or removing users on each server, you can create an Ansible playbook that defines the desired state of users on your systems. Ansible will then ensure that all servers match this state. This is ideal for environments with many servers or when you need to ensure consistent user configurations.

Code Example (Ansible Playbook):

Create a file named user_management.yml with the following content:

---
- hosts: all
  become: true
  tasks:
    - name: Add a new user
      user:
        name: deploy
        comment: Deploy User
        uid: 1001
        group: deploy
        shell: /bin/bash
        password: "$6$rounds=656000$K1gYf.oJvL/Lq56j$yK767n6QnUu.1j0g7rU1/z/Ua5zW8hM8k3Qn7x0X5z5j9g3Q0i8f.f6wY0a" # Hashed Password
        state: present

    - name: Ensure user is in the 'wheel' group (sudo access)
      user:
        name: deploy
        groups: wheel
        append: yes

    - name: Remove a user
      user:
        name: testuser
        state: absent
        remove: yes

Explanation of the Playbook:

hosts: all: This specifies that the playbook should be executed on all hosts defined in your Ansible inventory.
become: true: This instructs Ansible to execute the tasks with elevated privileges (sudo).
tasks:: This section defines the individual tasks to be performed.
- Add a new user: This task uses the user module to create a new user named "deploy". It sets various attributes like the user’s comment, UID, primary group, shell, and a hashed password. Important: Never store passwords in plain text. Use mkpasswd or a similar tool to generate a secure password hash.
- Ensure user is in the 'wheel' group: This task adds the "deploy" user to the "wheel" group, granting sudo access. append: yes ensures that the user is added to the group without removing them from any existing groups.
- Remove a user: This task uses the user module to remove a user named "testuser". state: absent ensures that the user is removed if it exists, and remove: yes ensures that the user’s home directory is also removed.

Running the Playbook:

Install Ansible: If Ansible is not already installed, install it using your distribution’s package manager. For AlmaLinux: sudo dnf install ansible.
Configure Ansible Inventory: Create an Ansible inventory file (e.g., /etc/ansible/hosts) that lists the servers you want to manage.
Run the Playbook: Execute the playbook using the following command:
```
ansible-playbook user_management.yml
```