it-knowledge/src/solutions/user-management.md

User Management Solutions

This section contains my solutions to various user management scenarios from the practice exercises.

Scenario: Creating Users with Specific Requirements

Original Problem

From Practice Scenarios v3: Create a user named 'john' with a custom shell and home directory.

Environment

• OS Version: Rocky Linux 8.x
• Initial State: No user 'john' exists
• Required Outcome: User 'john' created with specific requirements

Solution Steps

1. Create the user with specific requirements

   # Create user with custom home directory
   sudo useradd -m -d /custom/home/john -s /bin/bash john
   
   # Set password
   sudo passwd john
   

   This creates the user 'john' with a custom home directory and bash shell

2. Verify user creation

   # Check user entry in /etc/passwd
   grep john /etc/passwd
   
   # Verify home directory
   ls -la /custom/home/john
   

Key Learnings

• Understanding of useradd command options
• Importance of verifying user creation
• Best practices for user management

Skills Demonstrated

• User Account Management
• Command Line Proficiency
• Security Best Practices
• System Verification

---

---

Scenario: Creating Users with Specific Requirements

Original Problem

• Create a new user called 'analyst1' with home directory '/home/analyst1'
• Create a group called 'datateam'
• Add 'analyst1' to 'datateam'
• Create a directory '/data/reports' owned by 'datateam' with SGID set
• Ensure members of 'datateam' can read/write, others can only read
• Set password expiry for 'analyst1' to 90 days

Environment

• OS Version: RHEL 9.5
• Initial State: No user 'analyst1' exists
• Required Outcome: User 'analyst1' created with specific requirements

Solution Steps

1. Step 1 - Create the user 'analyst1'

   sudo useradd -m -d /home/analyst1 analyst1
   

   This creates the user 'analyst1' with a home directory '/home/analyst1'

2. Step 2

   sudo groupadd datateam
   

   This creates the group 'datateam'

3. Step 3 - Add 'analyst1' to 'datateam'

   sudo usermod -aG datateam analyst1
   

   This adds 'analyst1' to the 'datateam' group

4. Step 4 - Create the directory '/data/reports' owned by 'datateam' with SGID set

   sudo mkdir -p /data/reports
   sudo chown :datateam /data/reports
   sudo chmod 2775 /data/reports
   

   This creates the directory '/data/reports' owned by 'datateam' with SGID set

5. Step 5 - Ensure members of 'datateam' can read/write, others can only read

   sudo chmod 2775 /data/reports
   

   This ensures members of 'datateam' can read/write, others can only read

6. Step 6 - Set password expiry for 'analyst1' to 90 days

   sudo chage -E $(date -d '90 days' +%Y-%m-%d) analyst1
   

   This sets the password expiry for 'analyst1' to 90 days

Verification

Commands used to verify the solution works correctly

Key Learnings

• Understanding of useradd, groupadd, usermod, mkdir, chown, chmod, chage commands
• Importance of verifying user creation
• Importance of setting password expiry

Additional Notes

[NOTE] This scenario is a good example of how to create a user with a specific home directory, add them to a group, create a directory owned by the group with SGID set, and set password expiry.