Small lookup for user management commands in Linux

  • To know which users exist:
    cat /etc/passwd | grep -i home
  • Delete a user:
    userdel <username>
  • Add a user:
    useradd -m <username> (the "-m" flag creates the home directory)
  • Set the user's password:
    passwd <username>
  • Assign a user to a group:
    usermod -a -G <groupname> <username>
(make the user re-login to activate the changes)
(for a user to be able to "su" to another one, it has to be in the group "wheel")
  • View to which groups a user was assigned:
    groups <username>
  • Remove a group from a user:
    usermod -G <all_groups_the_user_is_supposed_to_have> <username>
Here I practically reassign to the user only the groups listed and the rest gets deleted.
(make the user re-login to activate the changes)
  • Change the owner of a file:
    chown <newowner> <filename>
  • Change the assigned group of a file:
    chgrp <newgroup> <filename>
  • Create a group:
    groupadd <newgroup>
Now you can assign files and users to the new group.
  • Delete a group:
    groupdel <groupname>