System Administration Guide: Basic Administration

Setting Up User Accounts (Task Map)

Task	Description	For Instructions
1. Start the Solaris Management Console launcher	Start the Solaris Management Console launcher to access the User Accounts and Groups Tools.	How to Start the Console as Superuser or as a Role or How to Start the Solaris Management Console in a Name Service Environment
2. (Optional) Customize User Initialization Files	You can set up user initialization files (`.cshrc`, `.profile`, `.login`), so you can provide new users with consistent environments.	How to Customize User Initialization Files
3. (Optional) Add a Group	You can add groups to help administer users by using the Groups Tool.	See Solaris Management Console online help
4. (Optional) Set up a User Template	You can create a user template so you don't have to manually add all similar user properties.	See Solaris Management Console online help
5. Add a User	You can add a user account by using the Users Tool.	See Solaris Management Console online help
6. (Optional) Add Rights or a Role to a User	You can add rights or a role to a user so the user can perform a specific command or task.	See Solaris Management Console online help
7. Share the User's Home Directory	You must share the user's home directory so the directory can be remotely mounted from the user's system.	How to Share a User's Home Directory
8. Mount the User's Home Directory	You must mount the user's home directory on the user's system.	How to Mount a User's Home Directory

User Information Data Sheet

You might find it useful to create a form like the one that follows to gather information about users before adding their accounts.

Item	Description
User Name:
Role Name:
Profiles or Authorizations:
User Name:
UID:
Primary Group:
Secondary Groups:
Comment:
Default Shell:
Password Status and Aging:
Home Directory Server Name:
Home Directory Path Name:
Mounting Method:
Permissions on Home Directory:
Mail Server:
Department Name:
Department Administrator:
Manager:
Employee Name:
Employee Title:
Employee Status:
Employee Number:
Start Date:
Add to These Mail Aliases:
Desktop System Name:

How to Customize User Initialization Files

Become superuser or assume an equivalent role on the system where the users' home directories are created and shared.

Create a skeleton directory for each type of user.
# mkdir /shared-dir/skel/user-type
shared-dir

The name of a directory that is available to other systems on the network.

user-type

The name of a directory to store initialization files for a type of user.

Copy the default user initialization files into the directories you created for different types of users.
# cp /etc/skel/local.cshrc /shared-dir/skel/user-type/.cshrc # cp /etc/skel/local.login /shared-dir/skel/user-type/.login # cp /etc/skel/local.profile /shared-dir/skel/user-type/.profile
Note –
If the account has profiles assigned to it, then the user has to launch a special version of the shell called a profile shell to use commands (with any security attributes) that are assigned to the profile. There are three profile shells corresponding to the types of shells: pfsh (Bourne shell), pfcsh (C shell), and pfksh (Korn shell).

Edit the user initialization files for each user type and customize them based on your site's needs.

For a detailed description on the ways to customize the user initialization files, see Customizing a User's Work Environment.

Set the permissions for the user initialization files.
# chmod 744 /shared-dir/skel/user-type/.*

Verify that the permissions for the user initialization files are correct.
# ls -la /shared-dir/skel/*

Example—Customizing User Initialization Files

The following example shows how to customize the C-shell user initialization file in the /export/skel/enduser directory designated for a particular type of user. For an example of a .cshrc file, see Example—.cshrc File.

# mkdir /export/skel/enduser
# cp /etc/skel/local.cshrc /export/skel/enduser/.cshrc
 
(Edit .cshrc file )
# chmod 744 /export/skel/enduser/.*

How to Share a User's Home Directory

Become superuser or assume an equivalent role on the system that contains the home directory.

Verify that the mountd daemon is running.
# ps -ef | grep mountd root 176 1 0 May 02 ? 0:19 /usr/lib/nfs/mountd
The /usr/lib/nfs/mountd line shows whether the mountd daemon is running.

If the mountd daemon is not running, start it.
# /etc/init.d/nfs.server start

List the file systems that are shared on the system.
# share

Select one of the following based on whether the file system containing the user's home directory is already shared.
1. If the user's home directory is already shared, go to the verification step below.
2. If the user's home directory is not shared, go to Step 6.

Edit the /etc/dfs/dfstab file and add the following line.
share -F nfs /file-system
file-system is the file system containing the user's home directory that you need to share. By convention, the file system is /export/home.

Share the file systems listed in the /etc/dfs/dfstab file.
# shareall -F nfs
This command executes all the share commands in the /etc/dfs/dfstab file, so you do not have to wait to reboot the system.

Verify that a user's home directory is shared, as follows:
# share

Where to Go From Here

If the user's home directory is not located on the user's system, you have to mount the user's home directory from the system where it is located. For detailed instructions, see How to Mount a User's Home Directory.

Example—Sharing a User's Home Directory

# ps -ef | grep mountd
# /etc/init.d/nfs.server start
# share
# vi /etc/dfs/dfstab
 
(The line share -F nfs /export/home is added.)
# shareall -F nfs
# share
-               /usr/dist                ro   "" 
-               /export/home/user-name     rw   ""

How to Mount a User's Home Directory

For information on automounting a home directory, see “Task Overview for Autofs Administration” in System Administration Guide: Resource Management and Network Services.

Make sure that the user's home directory is shared.

For more information, see How to Share a User's Home Directory.

Edit the /etc/vfstab file and create an entry for the user's home directory.

system-name:/export/home/user-name - /export/home/user-name nfs - yes rw

`system-name`	The name of the system where the home directory is located.
`/export/home/user-name`	The name of the user's home directory that will be shared. By convention, `/export/homeuser-name` contains user's home directories. However, this could be a different file system.
`-`	Required placeholders in the entry.
`/export/home/user-name`	The name of the directory where the user's home directory will be mounted.

For more information about adding an entry to the /etc/vfstab file, see Chapter 39, Mounting and Unmounting File Systems (Tasks).

Create the mount point for the user's home directory.
# mkdir -p /export/home/user-name

Mount the user's home directory.
# mountall
All entries in the current vfstab file (whose mount at boot fields are set to yes) are mounted.

Verify that the home directory is mounted.
# mount | grep user-name

Example—Mounting a User's Home Directory

# vi /etc/vfstab
 
(The line  venus:/export/home/ripley - /export/home/ripley
nfs - yes rw is added.)
# mkdir -p /export/home/ripley
# mountall
# mount
/ on /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 read/write/setuid/intr/largefiles/onerror=panic/dev=2200000 ...
/proc on /proc read/write/setuid/dev=3840000 on Wed Feb 28 09:49:07 2001
/dev/fd on fd read/write/setuid/dev=3900000 on Wed Feb 28 09:49:10 2001
/etc/mnttab on mnttab read/write/setuid/dev=3a00000 on Wed Feb 28 09:49:12 2001
/var/run on swap read/write/setuid/dev=1 on Wed Feb 28 09:49:12 2001
/tmp on swap read/write/setuid/dev=2 on Wed Feb 28 09:49:15 2001
/export/home on /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7 read/write/setuid/intr/largefiles/onerror=panic/dev= ...
/export/home/ripley on venus:/export/home/ripley remote/read/write/setuid/dev=3a8001e ...

`shared-dir`	The name of a directory that is available to other systems on the network.
`user-type`	The name of a directory to store initialization files for a type of user.