User Add
 

Hi,

I don't even know where to start here. A Linux project was turned over to me and as I started to dig around I noticed that I couldn't add user(s) by using useradd command. The command was not found. I basically at a lost here. I need to be able to add/ create user and assign them to group like admin group etc.

Can someone help me?

I did a cat /etc/issue and got the below...

Linux "SERVER NAME" 2.6.27.7 #1 SMP Thu Feb 19 12:04:52 GMT 2009 i686 GNU/Linux TOAK

Not sure what else to provide but please ask and I'll do my best to give more info.

Thanks in advance!!!

Did you try which useradd or whereis useradd? Chances are, it is just in a directory not in your path (probably /usr/sbin or /sbin). What is the output of echo $PATH?

Also, make sure you add a new user as root.

Yes, I went to the /usr/sbin or /sbin as well and unable to do it. Nothing there.

The output of echo $PATH:

/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/local/bin:/loca/sbin

What distro are you using there?

You could try to find it manually:

I did try to find it manually too and came back with nothing. Not sure where else to look for.

I've never tried it, but I would guess you can add a user by editing (as root) /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, and /etc/group by hand. Then you'll want to run passwd after that to set a sane password and create a /home directory.

Also, a long time ago, I feel like I ran a distro that used adduser instead of useradd.

Thanks... I'll give that a try. It's been 3 yrs since I worked on Linux. I have tried adduser and useradd and both were not found. I can't help but to think utility is missing or someone removed the commands/ utility. Now, if that's the case how do I install it back? I am logging in as root, by the way. And even in root I can't find the useradd and/or adduser command.

I checked the adduser interactive script and it seems that it actually uses the useradd binary.

@v890115
You haven't answered the question about your distro yet.

Here's a guide to adding a user by hand.

In re distro, also look for a file like

/etc/*release*


try

uname -a

as well.

Oopss I missed this question earlier. Distro is Linux 2.6.27.7

That's not the distro. That's the linux kernel version. The distro will be something like Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or Ubuntu, or Debian, or Slackware, etc.

As someone else mentioned, try poking around for an /etc/*Release* file or something of the like that might tell us which distro and what vintage. Or uname -a output might give us some clues.