How to create a new user on Linux with the command line.

Create a new user on Linux with the command line

Creating a new user on Linux with the command line is very easy. Just use the useradd command and this will be accomplished very easily.

Use this command to create a new user account.

ubuntu ~ $ sudo useradd -d /home/jeff -s /bin/tcsh -m jeff

Then set a password this way. If you try to set a password like this.

ubuntu ~ $ sudo useradd -d /home/jeff -p passwordjeff -s /bin/tcsh -m jeff

It will not work, you have to create the account first, then set the password afterwards.

ubuntu ~ $ sudo passwd jeff
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully

Then I can log in as the new user.

ubuntu ~ $ su jeff
Password:
ip-172-31-20-16:/home/ubuntu>

This is how easy it is to create a new user account on Linux with the useradd command. This could be used in a script to create a few accounts at a time.