Creating new users on Ubuntu is an essential task for managing a multi-user system. In this complete guide, you will learn how to create a new user on Ubuntu quickly and easily. This tutorial is perfect for beginners and system administrators who want to understand the process in detail.

Step 1: Open the Terminal

To start, open the terminal on your Ubuntu system. You can do this by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or searching for Terminal in the applications menu.

Step 2: Command to Create a New User

Use the adduser command to create a new user. Replace username with the name you want to assign to the new user.

sudo adduser username

Example:

sudo adduser maria

The above command will create a user named maria.

Step 3: Set Password

After executing the command, you will be prompted to set a password for the new user. Enter and confirm the password when prompted.

Step 4: Optional Information

The adduser command will prompt you to provide some additional information, such as the user's full name. These fields are optional and can be left blank by pressing Enter.

Step 5: Add Administrative Privileges (Optional)

If you want the new user to have administrative (sudo) privileges, add the user to the sudo group.

sudo usermod -aG sudo username

Example:

sudo usermod -aG sudo maria

This will give maria administrative permissions.

Step 6: Confirm User Creation

To confirm that the user was created successfully, you can list the users on the system using:

cut -d: -f1 /etc/passwd

This will display a list of all users on the system.

Step 7: Switch to the New User

To switch to the new user, use the su command and enter the new user's password.

su - username

Example:

su - maria

Conclusion

Creating new users on Ubuntu is a straightforward process that can be done in a few steps. Whether for administrative purposes or to add new team members, following this guide will ensure that you can efficiently manage users on your Ubuntu system.

Additional Tips

  • Check Ubuntu Version: Before making system changes, it can be useful to know which version of Ubuntu you are using. Use the command cat /etc/os-release to check the version.
  • Security: Always use strong and secure passwords for all users, especially those with administrative privileges.
  • Documentation: Keep documentation of all users and their permissions to facilitate system management.