how to know about an user

megh · #1 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

how to know about an user who has been recently created .

joeyg · #2 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

The following might be able to start you on your way:

Code:

ls -lt /home/. | awk '{print $3,$6,$7,$8}'

It lists the normal user home directory area, sorted by most recent activity first. Creating a new user would set the user directory date. However, a user doing some work in their home directory would also adjust the date. Not perfect, but perhaps a way of figuring out about new activity?

buffoonix · #3 (**permalink**) 08-05-2008

@joeyg's proposal,
the last created user could be given a different $HOME with the -d option of useradd.

If you don't have auditing of useradds in effect this I think isn't really distinctly to answer.

Assuming that your sysadmin or process which creates new users doesn't explicitly assign UIDs (e.g. by useradd's -u option) so that auto incrementation up to MAXUID is in effect, you could go for the e.g. last three highest UIDs like

Code:

$ sort -t: -k 3n /etc/passwd|tail -3|cut -d: -f1

But this isn't foolproof either.

More UNIX and Linux Forum Topics You Might Find Helpful
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
single user mode - user accounts passwords	orestis	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	3	02-02-2009 05:18 PM
Running script from other user rather than login user	rawatds	Shell Programming and Scripting	3	01-30-2009 01:18 PM
How do i change to super user then revert back to ordinary user ,using shell script?	wrapster	Shell Programming and Scripting	3	06-04-2008 07:11 AM
Other than root user .Normal user is unable to create files	mallesh	UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users	1	06-22-2005 12:18 PM
Limiting length of user in while creating user	Satya Mishra	AIX	2	04-15-2005 02:40 AM

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread:


	Powered by