How to add and remove users on CentOS 8
Adding and removing users is one of the basic tasks that every system administrator should know. In this tutorial, I will show you two ways to add and remove users in CentOS 8 in shell as well as desktop.
Prerequisites
You must be root for this tutorial to work.
Using a graphical user interface (GUI)
How to add a user on CentOS
Step 1. When you login, the following interface will appear. Click on “Actions” in the upper left corner.
Step 2. Click the “Settings” icon in this window.
Step 3. Click the search icon in the upper left corner of this interface.
Step 4. In the search bar, write “users”. The corresponding option will appear in response to your search action. Click this option.
Step 5. In the upper right corner there is an “Unblock” button. Click on this button to continue.
Step 6. After this action, a pop-up window will appear that requires authentication. Enter your password and click “Authenticate” to continue.
Step 7. After successful authentication, the Add User button will be activated, which is located in the upper right corner. Click this button to add a new user.
Step 8. You have two options for setting the account type: “Standard” and “Administrator”. You can choose it according to your requirements.
Please provide the following information.
- Full name
- Username
- password
- Confirm password
Check “Set password now” and enter the desired password.
After filling in all the required information, click “Add” in the upper right corner.
Step 9. After clicking on “Add”, another pop-up window will appear, requiring user authentication. Enter your password and click “Confirm” to continue.
You can see that a new user “Test” has been added.
How to change the password of an existing user
Step 11. If you want to change the user’s password, click the user as shown in the figure below. Double-click the Password text box. A pop-up window will appear, check “Set password now” and enter the new desired password. When you’re done, click the “Edit” button located in the upper right corner.
You have successfully changed the user’s password.
How to delete a user
Step 12. Delete the existing user. Click the Unblock button.
A new pop-up window will appear, enter your password and click “Authenticate”.
Step 13. After authentication, click the desired user. Click “Remove User” in the lower right corner.
Step 14. Click “Delete Files” to delete all user files. If you want to save the files, click “Save Files”.
You have successfully deleted the user.
Add user to CentOS using terminal
The second way involves using a terminal.
How to add a user
Step 15. When you login, the interface shown below will appear. Click Actions in the upper left corner.
Step 16. Click 
icon.
Step 17. Log in as root. Enter the following command.
su -
Enter the root password and press “Enter” on your keyboard.
Step 18. If you want to add a new user, the command must have the following syntax.
adduser [username]
Replace username with your actual username.
Suppose you want to add a new user test2, the complete command should look like this.
adduser test2
After you’ve added a user, it’s time to set up a password. Run the following command on the terminal.
passwd [username]
Replace username with your actual username. Let’s say you want to set a password for the newly added user test2. The complete command should look like this.
passwd test2
If prompted, enter a new password and enter it again to confirm. When finished, press Enter on your keyboard.
How to change the password of an existing user
Step 19. To change the password for this user, enter the following command.
passwd [username]
Replace username with your actual username. Let’s say you want to change the password of the newly added user test2. The complete command should look like this.
passwd test2
If prompted, enter a new password and enter it again to confirm. When done, press “Enter” on your keyboard.
This will change the password for this user.
How to delete a user
Step 20. If you want to delete a user, the command must have the following syntax.
userdel [username]
Replace username with your actual username.
Suppose you want to delete user test2, the complete command should look like this.
userdel test2
If you want to remove the user’s home directory along with the account, use the -r option. The command should have the following syntax.
userdel -r [username]
Suppose you want to delete the home directory of user test2, the complete command should look like this.
userdel -r test2
Conclusion
You have learned how to add, remove, and change the password of an existing user using both the GUI and the terminal. If you have any problems, please leave your feedback in the comments section and I will study it.
How to add and remove users on CentOS 8