Users, adding

There are several methods that are commonly used to add users to a FreeBSD system.

Using pw to add a new user

ph34r# pw useradd username -g groupname -s /bin/csh -d /home/username

The command shown above will add a new user account named "username", assign the group "groupname" as the new user's primary group, set the C shell as its default shell on login, and set its home directory as "/home/username". It will not copy any .profile or similar files from /etc/skel, create any directories, or anything else - all pw does is manipulate the system user database for you.

See also: Modifying users

Using adduser to add a new user

adduser can be run with no arguments, and will present you with a prompt for each question that needs to be answered in order to create the user that you're going to create

dave@samizdata:~% su -
Password:
samizdata# adduser felix
Username: felix
Full name: Felix 
Uid (Leave empty for default):
Login group [felix]:
Login group is felix. Invite felix into other groups? []: wheel
Login class [default]:
Shell (sh csh tcsh tcsh bash) [sh]: bash
Home directory [/home/felix]:
Use password-based authentication? [yes]:
Use an empty password? (yes/no) [no]:
Use a random password? (yes/no) [no]:
Enter password:
Enter password again:
Lock out the account after creation? [no]:
Username   : felix
Password   : *****
Full Name  : Felix 
Uid        : 1002
Class      :
Groups     : felix wheel
Home       : /home/felix
Shell      : /usr/local/bin/bash
Locked     : no
OK? (yes/no): yes
adduser: INFO: Successfully added (felix) to the user database.
Add another user? (yes/no): n
Goodbye!
samizdata#

This will create the home directory of the new user, as well as manipulate the user database and groups database in order to add the user to the appropriate groups.