I'll tell you what I do, but it is a little risky. First I add the users to a "prototype" box. This is just some box where I start. I add the users, assign initial passwords, and I ask the user to sign on, change their passwords, and be sure that they like the shell, gcos info etc. I do not want to copy this around and then find that they csh or something. After the users accounts are all ready on the prototype box, I extract their lines from /etc/password and /etc/shadow. I use this to create a simple script that appends the lines to /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow. The script also makes the home directories, etc. I test this script on a test system. Once I am sure that I trust the script, I use an automated procedure to transfer to the boxes in question and run it. Like I said, this is a little risky. But I am careful and I am confident that I can correct any fumbles that occur.