This Linux 4 Windows Tutorial shows you how to create Damn Small Linux users on your Windows computer. You will apply the new adduser, login, passwd, and perhaps the useradd commands as well as review many commands from previous tutorials.

Creating Damn Small Linux Users

This tutorial shows you some of the basics of creating Damn Small Linux users. You may want to read the article entitled Ten Important Linux Concepts For Beginners - Number 3, Users before you start clicking.

Step 1 Start Damn Small Linux either from the Windows Desktop or from your USB pen drive and access the command line. We have started from the USB pen drive so that our users will be persistent, in other words be present when we restart the system. If necessary review the appropriate tutorial. Enter the adduser command which generates a clear error message as shown in Figure 1.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 2 Figure 1
A regular user may not create new users with the adduser command.

Step 2 Clear the screen with the clear command. Enter the useradd command. Because the output of this command seems to indicate that the command was incomplete enter the useradd abc command which attempts to create a user named abc. The generated error message is not as clear as in the previous Step but we have not succeeded in creating a user. The results are shown in Figure 2.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 2 Figure 2
A regular user may not create new users with the useradd command.

Step 3 Reactivate the root user and enter the command adduser abc. Then enter the password Abc567 and reenter it in spite of the warning. To save time press the Enter key for the Full Name and the 4 other user information fields. Enter y to terminate your entry. The results are shown in Figure 3.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 2 Figure 3
Creating a new user.

Step 4 Don't make the mistake of thinking that the abc user has been activated. To activate the user enter the login command from the $ command prompt which may require the sudo su command as shown in Figure 4.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 2 Figure 4
Logging in.

Step 5 We enter the password to complete the login as shown in Figure 5.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 2 Figure 5
Completing the login.

Step 6 It's not hard to determine who is the active user and which is the active directory. The following procedure is useful if you want to reactivate the dsl user. We apply the passwd command to change the password as shown in Figure 6.

Damn Small Linux Users Tutorial 2 Figure 6
Changing a password.

Exercises. 1) Create a new user using the useradd command.
2) Reactivate the dsl user. This may be a little trickier than you think.
3) The sixth line of Figure 3 reads "Copying files from /etc/skel" Show how this works in practice by creating a new user who will get some files when the account is created.