How do I add a new OS user in Linux?

Add a user from the command line

View a step-by-step screencast of this process:

As with every command entered when performing system administration tasks from a command line, syntax is important. Please make sure that every character is entered exactly as shown below. To avoid common syntactical mistakes, we recommend you copy and paste the entire example commands into a text editor, make the necessary changes, and then paste the resulting commands into your terminal session.
  • NOTE: in the example below, we are adding a user with the username “johndoe.” Replace “johndoe” with the username you wish to add to the system.
  • Log into your server as root
  • Create a new user that’s a member of the “eclipse” user group:
useradd -G eclipse johndoe
  • Set the user’s Linux login password:
passwd johndoe
  • NOTE: if you attempt to set a weak password, you may see a warning. If you are willing to accept using a weak password, simply type it in again and confirm to proceed. If you would like to create a user with a blank password, please see this article.
  • Create a link for the user’s profile, which will automatically launch Eclipse when they login:
Important: please verify that the order of arguments in the command is correct: /u2/eclipse/.profile must come first, followed by a space, and then the new user’s profile directory.
Important: please note there is a space between the source and destination locations.
ln -sf /u2/eclipse/.profile /home/johndoe/.bash_profile
  • Open Eterm and log into the server using the newly created username and password. If you added the user correctly,  you will be presented with the blue Eclipse login screen.
  • If you are presented with a prompt to update the directory’s VOC, modify the /u2/eclipse/.profile file as root, adding the following block of code before the “Setup the Eclipse environment” section:
# Move to the Eclipse account home directory
export ECLIPSEHOME=/u2/eclipse
cd $ECLIPSEHOME
  • If you’re still not able to log in using the new user’s credentials, please open a support request, and the Eclipse support team will provide assistance.

For step-by-step instructions with screenshots for using the graphical interface, see the official Red Hat documentation on Users and Groups

6 thoughts on “How do I add a new OS user in Linux?”

  1. The instructions on how to set the os user to have no password is no longer here. You may want to put it back.
    Thanks!

  2. Is there any way to to this through the gui anymore or does it have to be through the cli now?

    1. You will need to use the command line to create the appropriate symlink. You may use both the GUI and command line if you want.

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