Ubuntu - User Management

Ubuntu provides the facility to create new users who can be authorized to log on to the system. Let’s look at the different functions that can be performed with the help of user management.

Creating Users

The following steps need to be performed for the creation of users.

Step 1 − Launch the user management console from the search menu. In the search menu, enter the keyword of users. The User Accounts icon will then appear. Double-click on the User Accounts icon.

Step 2 − The user management screen will then pop up as shown in the following screenshot. To perform any sort of user management, we first need to press the Unlock button and enter our administrator credentials.

Step 3 − Enter the administrator credentials in the pop-up box which comes up and click the Authenticate button.

Once we click Authenticate, all the user management functions on the screen will become enabled.

Step 4 − Click the plus button to create a user.

Step 5 − Enter the user details. We can only create Standard and Administrator account types.

Step 6 − Click the Add button to complete the operation of adding the user.

Enabling the User Account

When the user is created, the user account is disabled. This is because a password has not been associated with the account.

Following are the steps to enable the user account.

Step 1 − Click the Account disabled option. This will prompt for the password dialog box.

We have the option to either set a password, log in without a password, or enable the account. A good practice is to always set a password for an account.

Step 2 − To set the password and click the Change button.

Step 3 − The account will now be enabled. Log in using the newly created account.

Managing User Permissions and Groups

To manage user permissions and groups, an additional package needs to be installed. Following are the steps to manage user permissions and groups.

Step 1 − Go to the search option and type the command keyword.

Step 2 − The search result of Terminal appears. Click it to open the command prompt.

Step 3 − Next, issue the following command.

sudo apt-get install gnome-system-tools

The apt-get command line is used to install additional packages from the Internet for the Ubuntu system. Here, we are telling Ubuntu that we want to install additional system tools so that we can manage user permissions and groups.

Step 4 − We will then be prompted for the password of the current logged in account and to also confirm to download the necessary packages for the installation. Enter the ‘Y’ option to proceed.

Step 5 − Once the installation is complete, when we search for users in the search option in Ubuntu, we can see an additional option of Users and Groups.

Step 6 − Click the Users and Groups option. Now, there will be an additional option of user and groups.

Step 7 − Click the Advanced settings button. We will be prompted to enter the password of the current logged on user to authenticate. Enter the password and click the Authenticate button.

Step 8 − In the next dialog box which appears, we will then be able to assign the required user privileges to the user.

Step 9 − Now, if we click on the Groups option, we will see that it has the option to create and delete groups.

Step 10 − Click on the Add button to add a group.

Step 11 − In the next dialog box, we can provide a group name and assign members to that group.

Step 12 − Finally, click the OK button to create the group.