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USERMOD(8) USERMOD(8)
NAME
usermod - Modify a user account
SYNOPSIS
usermod [-c comment] [-d home_dir [-m]]
[-e expire_date] [-f inactive_time]
[-g initial_group] [[-a] -G group [,...]]
[-l login_name] [-p passwd]
[-s shell] [-u uid [-o]] [-L|-U] login
DESCRIPTION
The usermod command modifies the system account files to reflect the
changes that are specified on the command line. The options which
apply to the usermod command are:
-c comment
The new value of the user's password file comment field. It is
normally modified using the chfn(1) utility.
-d home_dir
The user's new login directory. If the -m option is given the
contents of the current home directory will be moved to the new
home directory, which is created if it does not already exist.
-e expire_date
The date on which the user account will be disabled. The date
is specified in the format YYYY-MM-DD.
-f inactive_days
The number of days after a password expires until the account
is permanently disabled. A value of 0 disables the account as
soon as the password has expired, and a value of -1 disables
the feature. The default value is -1.
-g initial_group
The group name or number of the user's new initial login group.
The group name must exist. A group number must refer to an
already existing group. The default group number is 1.
-G group,[...]
A list of supplementary groups which the user is also a member
of. Each group is separated from the next by a comma, with no
intervening whitespace. The groups are subject to the same
restrictions as the group given with the -g option. If the
user is currently a member of a group which is not listed, the
user will be removed from the group. This behaviour can be
changed via -a option, which appends user to the current sup-
plementary group list.
-l login_name
The name of the user will be changed from login to login_name.
Nothing else is changed. In particular, the user's home direc-
tory name should probably be changed to reflect the new login
name.
-p passwd
The encrypted password, as returned by crypt(3).
-s shell
The name of the user's new login shell. Setting this field to
blank causes the system to select the default login shell.
-u uid The numerical value of the user's ID. This value must be
unique, unless the -o option is used. The value must be non-
negative. Values between 0 and 99 are typically reserved for
system accounts. Any files which the user owns and which are
located in the directory tree rooted at the user's home direc-
tory will have the file user ID changed automatically. Files
outside of the user's home directory must be altered manually.
-L Lock a user's password. This puts a '!' in front of the
encrypted password, effectively disabling the password. You
can't use this option with -p or -U.
-U Unlock a user's password. This removes the '!' in front of the
encrypted password. You can't use this option with -p or -L.
CAVEATS
usermod will not allow you to change the name of a user who is logged
in. You must make certain that the named user is not executing any
processes when this command is being executed if the user's numerical
user ID is being changed. You must change the owner of any crontab
files manually. You must change the owner of any at jobs manually.
You must make any changes involving NIS on the NIS server.
FILES
/etc/passwd - user account information
/etc/shadow - secure user account information
/etc/group - group information
SEE ALSO
chfn(1), chsh(1), passwd(1), crypt(3), groupadd(8), groupdel(8),
groupmod(8), useradd(8), userdel(8)
AUTHOR
Julianne Frances Haugh (jockgrrl@ix.netcom.com)
USERMOD(8)
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