Monday morning at the help desk
A new teacher starts today and needs an account. Another has forgotten her password. A leaver's account is still open. And the new shared drive has no permissions.
These four jobs are the daily work of user support.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| User account | a record that lets one person sign in and use a system |
| Password policy | the rules a password must follow |
| Complexity | a rule that a password must mix capitals, small letters and numbers |
| Expiry | the date a password stops working and must be changed |
| Group | a set of accounts that share the same permissions |
| Permission | a right to read, change or run a file or folder |
| Privilege | a special right, such as installing software |
| Shared resource | a folder or printer that many people use |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can add and remove users, set password rules and give the right permissions to a shared resource.
Starter
Have a go
Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
User management
Adding a user means making an account, giving it a first password and putting it in the right groups. Removing a user means locking the account the day they leave, then deleting it when the records allow.
Access times limit when an account can sign in. A shop assistant's account might work only in shop hours. A domain can set these as logon hours.
Add a user
sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash amira && id amiraA command for the lesson’s lab terminal. It is shown here and not run.
Password management
Three settings matter.
Complexity. The password must mix capitals, small letters and numbers, and be long enough. Expiry. A password stops working after a set time and must be changed. Reset on next logon. When you reset a password for a user, you force them to choose their own at the next sign-in. Then only they know it.
Set an expiry: change within 90 days
sudo chage -M 90 -m 1 -W 7 amira && sudo chage -l amira | grep -E "Maximum|Minimum|warning"A command for the lesson’s lab terminal. It is shown here and not run.
Force a new password at the next logon
sudo chage -d 0 amira && sudo chage -l amira | head -1A command for the lesson’s lab terminal. It is shown here and not run.