NEWUSERS(8)		  System Management Commands		   NEWUSERS(8)



NAME
       newusers - update and create new users in batch

SYNOPSIS
       newusers [new_users]

DESCRIPTION
       newusers reads a file of user name and clear-text password pairs and
       uses this information to update a group of existing users or to create
       new users. Each line is in the same format as the standard password
       file (see passwd(5)) with the following exceptions:

       pw_passwd
	  This field will be encrypted and used as the new value of the
	  encrypted password.

       pw_age
	  This field will be ignored for shadow passwords if the user already
	  exists.

       pw_gid
	  This field may be the name of an existing group, in which case the
	  named user will be added as a member. If a non-existent numerical
	  group is given, a new group will be created having this number.

       pw_dir
	  This field will be checked for existence as a directory and a new
	  directory with the same name will be created if it does not already
	  exist. The ownership of the directory will be set to be that of the
	  user being created or updated.

       This command is intended to be used in a large system environment where
       many accounts are updated at a single time.

CAVEATS
       The input file must be protected since it contains unencrypted
       passwords.

FILES
       /etc/login.defs
	  Shadow password suite configuration.

SEE ALSO
       login.defs(5), passwd(1), useradd(8).



System Management Commands	  02/25/2007			   NEWUSERS(8)