Linux in a Nutshell, Third Edition

Name

usermod

Synopsis

usermod [options] user

Description

System administration command. Modify user account information.

Options

-c comment

Comment field.

-d dir

Home directory.

-e date

Account expiration date. date is in the format MM/DD/YYYY. Two-digit year fields are also accepted, but the value is stored as the number of days since January 1, 1970. This option requires the use of shadow passwords.

-f days

Permanently disable account this many days after the password has expired. A value of -1 disables this feature. This option requires the use of shadow passwords.

-g group

Initial group name or number.

-G groups

Supplementary groups given by name or number in a comma-separated list with no whitespace. user will be removed from any groups to which they currently belong that are not included in groups.

-l name

Login name. This cannot be changed while the user is logged in.

-o

Override. Accept a nonunique uid with the -u option.

-s shell

Login shell.

-u uid

Numerical user ID. The value must be unique unless the -o option is used. Any files owned by user in the user’s home directory will have their user ID changed automatically. Files outside of the home directory will not be changed. user should not be executing any processes while this is changed.