How to manage users and groups in Linux

Short answer

Use useradd or adduser to create accounts, usermod to modify them, and groupadd to create groups. Manage file ownership and access with permissions. For file access control details, see how to manage file permissions. For automation around user tasks, see how to write bash scripts.

Steps

1. Add a user: sudo adduser username
2. Add to sudo group: sudo usermod -aG sudo username
3. Create a group: sudo groupadd developers
4. Add user to group: sudo usermod -aG developers username
5. Delete a user: sudo deluser username

Tips

• Always use -aG to append groups without removing existing ones
• Use id username to verify group memberships
• Secure remote access by setting up how to configure SSH key-based login