Chapter 5. Setting Up User Accounts

The following are the test objectives for this chapter:

• Using Admintool to create and administer group and user accounts

• Setting up password aging on user accounts

• Locking or deleting a user account

• Using default environment files from /etc/skel to set up a user environment

• Customizing and administering initialization files

Access to a system is allowed only through user login accounts set up by the system administrator. A user account includes information a user needs to log in and use a system—a user login name, a password, the user's home directory, and login initialization files. User accounts can range from occasional guests needing read-only access to a few files to regular users who need to share information between several departments. Table 5–1 lists the methods and tools available in Solaris for adding new user accounts to the system.

Table 5-1. Adding New User Accounts

Environment	Recommended Tool	Availability
On remote and/or local systems in a networked, name service (NIS, NIS+) environment	User and Group Manager (graphical user interface) from the Solstice AdminSuite	Available as a separate product. Refer to the Solstice AdminSuite 2.3 Administration Guide.
Local system	Admintool (graphical user interface)	Provided with Solaris 2.6.
Command-line	Terminal window (CDE environment) or shell tool or command tool (OpenWindows environment)	Provided with Solaris 2.6.