Shell – How to add users to Linux through a shell script

grouplinuxpasswordshell-scriptusers

The shell script that I have to write has to create new users and automatically assign them to groups. This is my code so far:

echo -n "Enter the username: "
read text
useradd $text

I was able to get the shell script to add the new user (I checked the /etc/passwd entry). However, I have tried and I am not able to get a passwd (entered by the user) to the newly created user before. If anyone could help me assign a password to the newly created user it would be of much help.

Best Answer

Output from "man 1 passwd":

--stdin
      This option is used to indicate that passwd should read the new
      password from standard input, which can be a pipe.

So to answer your question, use the following script:

echo -n "Enter the username: "
read username

echo -n "Enter the password: "
read -s password

adduser "$username"
echo "$password" | passwd "$username" --stdin

I used read -s for the password, so it won't be displayed while typing.

Edit: For Debian/Ubuntu users -stdin won't work. Instead of passwd use chpasswd:

  echo $username:$password | chpasswd
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