Adding Users and Groups Review Questions

The following questions are based on the PowerPoint presentation you received on Adding Users and
Groups. The presentation was written specifically for Solaris Operating System. Note that Solaris
Operating System is a closed version of UNIX supplied by Sun Micro Systems. However much of the
commands, file arrangement and contents are standard for other UNIX Operating Systems. This is also
true for most Linux Operating System. As such this document proves to be a useful guide to system
administrators of any distribution of UNIX/Linux Operating System.

Please ignore all reference to admintool. Admintool is a graphical user interface software that comes
with the Solaris Operating System. It is not a part of any Linux distribution.

Please answer all questions. These questions carry a weighting of five (5) percent.

Note that class work and assignment carry a total of twenty (20) percent of the final grade. The five
(15) percent mentioned here means that all other assignment and class work will only carry a total of
fifteen (15) percent.

Class: UNIX/Linux Administration

Instructor: Lloyd J Brown
Instructor email: lbrown@faculty.vti.edu.jm
Due date: November 28, 2016

1. What three files are used in creating user accounts on a UNIX/Linux system? [3 Marks]

2. In the /etc/passwd file the last field indicates what about the user? [1 Mark]

3. What does the x in the /etc/passwd file mean? [1 Mark]

4. What is the default user ID of a superuser account? [1 Mark]

5. What is the purpose of the nobody account? [1 Mark]

6. What is the /etc/shadow file? [1 Mark]

7. Why would you not want to edit the /etc/shadow file directly? [2 Marks]

8. What does *LK* in the /etc/shadow file mean? [1 Mark]

9. At what point would a UNIX/Linux system administrator issue the pwconv command? [1 Mark]

10. As a UNIX/Linux system administrator where would you look to find a users primary group
member ship? [1 Mark]

11. Can a user be a member of more than one group? [1 Mark]

12. Where is the password information for a user stored? [1 Mark]

13. What are the three steps when creating a new user account? [3 Marks]

14. Please list the password aging parameters. [5 Marks]

15. What command is used to add a new user account? [1 Mark]

16. Give the command coding to create a new user account with the following information: [13 Marks]
Name: your first name
User ID: 100
Group: Linux
Login shell: bash
Comment: Associate Degree

17. What are initialization files? [2 Marks]

18. What are the two initialization files? [2 Marks]

19. Produce a flow chart of what happens when a user logs in to a UNIX/Linux machine? [7 Marks]

20. Which shells use the /etc/profile initialization file? [3 Marks]

21. For the bash shell, what are the user initialization files that are read at login? [3 Mark]

22. For the bash shell, what is the user initialization file that is read after login? [1 Mark]

23. What are the two types of variables? [2 Marks]

24. Explain each. [4 Marks]

25. What command is used to create a new group? [1 Mark]

26. When adding a new group what option is added to the command so that the GID can be specified?
[1 Mark]

27. In the case where a user account is already created and needs to be changed, what command is
used? [1 Mark]

28. Using the command line, what is the command and option used to lock the account for a user called
bob? [2 Marks]

29. What command is used to remove a user account from the system? [1 Mark]

30. When a user account has been removed, shared files owned by that user are left on the system.
What is the command syntax used to find and remove such files? [9 Marks]

31. In addition to these questions please also provide the answers to the five multiple choice questions
found at the end of the PowerPoint presentation. [5 Marks]