Administration Reference

uss add

Purpose

Creates a user account

Synopsis

uss add -user <login name>  [-realname <full name in quotes>]
        [-pass <initial password>]  
        [-pwexpires <password expires in [0..254] days (0 => never)>]
        [-server <FileServer for home volume>] 
        [-partition <FileServer's disk partition for home volume>] 
        [-mount <home directory mount point>]  
        [-uid <uid to assign the user>]
        [-template <pathname of template file>] 
        [-verbose]  [-var <auxiliary argument pairs (Num val)>⁺] 
        [-cell <cell name>]  [-admin <administrator to authenticate>]
        [-dryrun]  [-skipauth]  [-overwrite]  [-help]
   
uss ad -us <login name>  [-r <full name in quotes>]   
       [-pas <initial password>] 
       [-pw <password expires in [0..254] days (0 => never)>]  
       [-se <FileServer for home volume>] 
       [-par <FileServer's disk partition for home volume>] 
       [-m <home directory mount point>]  [-ui <uid to assign the user>]
       [-t <pathname of template file>]  [-ve]  
       [-va <auxiliary argument pairs (Num val)>⁺]  [-c <cell name>]
       [-a <administrator to authenticate>]  [-d]  [-sk]  [-o]  [-h]

Description

The uss add command creates entries in the Protection Database and Authentication Database for the user name specified by the -user argument. By default, the Protection Server automatically allocates an AFS user ID (UID) for the new user; to specify an alternate AFS UID, include the -uid argument. If a password is provided with the -pass argument, it is stored as the user's password in the Authentication Database after conversion into a form suitable for use as an encryption key. Otherwise, the string changeme is assigned as the user's initial password.

The other results of the command depend on which instructions and which of a defined set of variables appear in the template file specified with the -template argument. Many of the command's arguments supply a value for one of the defined variables, and failure to provide an argument when the corresponding variable appears in the template file halts the account creation process at the point where the command interpreter first encounters the variable in the template file.

To create multiple accounts with a single command, use the uss bulk command. To delete accounts with a single command, use the uss delete command.

Options

-user

Names the user's Authentication Database and Protection Database entries. It can include up to eight alphanumeric characters, but not any of the following characters: : (colon), @ (at-sign), . (period), space, or newline. Because it becomes the username (the name under which a user logs in), it is best not to include shell metacharacters and to obey the restrictions that many operating systems impose on usernames (usually, to contain no more than eight lowercase letters).

Corresponding variable in the template file: $USER.

-realname

Specifies the user's full name. If it contains spaces or punctuation, surround it with double quotes. If not provided, it defaults to the user name provided with the -user argument.

Corresponding variable in the template file: $NAME. Many operating systems include a field for the full name in a user's entry in the local password file (/etc/passwd or equivalent), and this variable can be used to pass a value to be used in that field.

-pass

Specifies the user's initial password. Although the AFS commands that handle passwords accept strings of virtually unlimited length, it is best to use a password of eight characters or less, which is the maximum length that many applications and utilities accept. If not provided, this argument defaults to the string changeme.

Corresponding variable in the template file: none.

-pwexpires

Sets the number of days after a user's password is changed that it remains valid. Provide an integer from the range 1 through 254 to specify the number of days until expiration, or the value 0 to indicate that the password never expires (the default).

When the password becomes invalid (expires), the user is unable to authenticate, but has 30 more days in which to issue the kpasswd command to change the password (after that, only an administrator can change it).

Corresponding variable in the template file: $PWEXPIRES.

-server

Names the file server machine on which to create the new user's volume. It is best to provide a fully qualified hostname (for example, fs1.abc.com), but an abbreviated form is acceptable provided that the cell's naming service is available to resolve it at the time the volume is created.

Corresponding variable in the template file: $SERVER.

-partition

Specifies the partition on which to create the user's volume; it must be on the file server machine named by the -server argument. Provide the complete partition name (for example /vicepa) or one of the following abbreviated forms:

   /vicepa     =     vicepa      =      a      =      0
   /vicepb     =     vicepb      =      b      =      1

After /vicepz (for which the index is 25) comes

   /vicepaa    =     vicepaa     =      aa     =      26
   /vicepab    =     vicepab     =      ab     =      27

and so on through

   /vicepiv    =     vicepiv     =      iv     =      255

Corresponding variable in the template file: $PART.

-mount

Specifies the pathname for the user's home directory. Partial pathnames are interpreted relative to the current working directory.

Specify the read/write path to the directory, to avoid the failure that results from attempting to create a new mount point in a read-only volume. By convention, the read/write path is indicated by placing a period before the cell name at the pathname's second level (for example, /afs/.abc.com). For further discussion of the concept of read/write and read-only paths through the filespace, see the fs mkmount reference page.

Corresponding variable in template: $MTPT, but in the template file's V instruction only. Occurrences of the $MTPT variable in template instructions that follow the V instruction take their value from the V instruction's mount_point field. Thus the value of this command line argument becomes the value for the $MTPT variable in instructions that follow the V instruction only if the string $MTPT appears alone in the V instruction's mount_point field.

-uid

Specifies a positive integer other than 0 (zero) to assign as the user's AFS UID. If this argument is omitted, the Protection Server assigns an AFS UID that is one greater than the current value of the max user id counter (use the pts listmax command to display the counter). If including this argument, it is best first to use the pts examine command to verify that no existing account already has the desired AFS UID; it one does, the account creation process terminates with an errorB> <password expires in [0..254] days (0 => never)>] [-server <FileServer for home volume>] [-partition <FileServer's disk partition for home volume>] [-mount <home directory mount point>] [-uid <uid to assign the user>] [-template <pathname of template file>] [-verbose] [-var <auxiliary argument pairs (Num val)>⁺] [-cell <cell name>] [-admin <administrator to authenticate>] [-dryrun] [-skipauth] [-overwrite] [-help] uss ad -us <login name> [-r <full name in quotes>] [-pas <initial password>] [-pw <password expires in [0..254] days (0 => never)>] [-se <FileServer for home volume>] [-par <FileServer's disk partition for home volume>] [-m <home directory mount point>] [-ui <uid to assign the user>] [-t <pathname of template file>] [-ve] [-va <auxiliary argument pairs (Num val)>⁺] [-c <cell name>] [-a <administrator to authenticate>] [-d] [-sk] [-o] [-h]