useradd

Updated

July 31, 2026

Overview

useradd creates a new user account and related files. On Ubuntu/Debian, adduser is a friendlier interactive wrapper; useradd is the low-level portable tool.

Syntax

sudo useradd [options] login

Common Options

Option	Description
`-m`	Create home from skel
`-G groups`	Supplementary groups
`-g group`	Primary group
`-s shell`	Login shell
`-u UID`	Numeric UID
`-r`	System account
`-c comment`	GECOS
`-d home`	Home path
`-e expire`	Expiry date

Examples with Explanations

sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash alice
sudo passwd alice
sudo useradd -m -G sudo,docker -s /bin/bash bob
sudo useradd -r -s /usr/sbin/nologin appsvc
getent passwd alice
sudo adduser charlie          # Debian interactive alternative

Defaults

See /etc/login.defs and /etc/default/useradd. Skeleton files come from /etc/skel.