Manage, add and delete users on Ubuntu

An important part in Linux server management, creating and deleting users. Despite being simple these commands form the basis of administration alongside permissions.

Add a user

Creating new users can only be done with root assigned privileges, create a new user with

adduser theusername

You will be prompted to enter a new password along with other details in which these can be skipped.

At the end you will be prompted with the details, if they are correct press y to confirm the new user.

Delete a user

Deleting or removing a user is done with

deluser theusername

To delete a user and remove their home directory use:

deluser --remove-home theusername

Change username

To change a users username:

usermod -l newusername oldusername

Change password

Changing a users password is done with:

sudo passwd theusername

List all users

List all the users with:

compgen -u