Setting up new user accounts
 

Okay, this may not seem like such a newbie question, but I've been somewhat dropped in at the deep end.

I'm trying to create a new user, who will be able to access their home directory via SSH or FTP, however I'd also like it so that if they were to type 'cd /' it would only return them to this home directory (and the same were they to do a 'cd ..' while in this home directory).

I mean, I've got it so that they can't access/edit any of the files they can get to, but I'd rather have it so that they don't even know they're there.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

well you can change all the files so that they are read-only to whomever is in the group or whomever owns the files. You can then put the individuals into a group giving the same group ownership to those files you want them to see.

oh it's like that already... I could do it like that, but was hoping to be able to stop the files from being seen at all.

well if they look like:

dwrx------ root root /some/directory

can a user still see the directories files under `ls' of that directory?

not ones that are specifically root... but files belonging to other users.

It's pretty tricky to explain how it's set up... I may just have to go with a bit more trial and error.

Veladrin -- do a google search for rbash (a restricted bash shell). Depending on the FTP server you're using it may be possible to tell it to restrict users to their home directories. In wu-ftpd for instance this is done with the restricted-uid directive in /etc/ftpaccess.

btmiller... I shall have your children at any point you have time :D

That's worked a treat. Thanks very much.