UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi All,

Could someone help, am a complete beginner when it comes to UNIX. However I have been tasked with investigating automatic creation of UK unix home directories.

Is someone able to help?

Thanks in advance!

What is a "UK unix home directory"

A directory that contains a user's documents and other personal data

I think there is no term in UNIX slang like "UK directory". Never heared.
By what do you want to automatically create them? By a list or... ?

On Linux useradd does not automatically create a homedirectory. adduser does that. mkuser on AIX can automatically creaty a home directory too.

Yeah sorry, should have just left the 'UK' bit out.

I am hoping to findout if theres a way to have a new users 'home directory' automatically created perhaps at first logon for that User.

please be more specific with your question... your os and your intentions and all other you can tell us are usefull informations to help you out...

In order to help us help you, there are a lot of variables that we need to know.

Is an auto mounter being used to mount the home directory when the user logs in? If so you will also need to update your systems automount maps.

Are you authenticating through a naming service such as NIS+ or LDAP? This effects which tools you use to manage your accounts.

Are the home directories stored locally on the machine users are logging into or are they shared out from an NFS server?
If this is the case you can set up Windows like roaming profiles.

What flavor of UNIX are using? Be specific. For example if you are using Solaris please specify release (i.e. Solaris 10 5/09, OpenSuse 10.1, etc)
Different flavors have different ways of doing things.

If you are trying to create a Windows like environment where the system creates a local profile when the user logs in, this might be a little tricky and possibly create a security issue depending on how you do it.