Manage users and groups
Users and groups are managed via
- the niutil command which allows to examine and manipulate NetInfo database items and
- the dscl command which allows to examine and manipulate Open Directory database items.
Contents
Using niutil
Examine users and groups
The groups list can be examined with:
niutil -list . /groups
The frontrow group's properties can be examined with:
niutil -read . /groups/frontrow
The users list can be examined with:
niutil -list . /users
The frontrow user's properties can be examined with:
niutil -read . /users/frontrow
Modify users and groups
The OS X user tools provides the scripts
- groupadd
- groupdel
- useradd
- userdel
with the functonality of the corresponding Linux commands
To use these scripts, you will have to copy nidump to the AppleTV.
It can be found on the Darwin x86 iso.
With nidump, you can examine users and groups:
nidump group . nidump passwd .
Add a group
The effect of the command
groupadd -g 100 users
is given by the following code:
group='users' group_id=100 niutil -create . /groups/$group niutil -createprop . /groups/$group name $group niutil -createprop . /groups/$group gid $group_id niutil -createprop . /groups/$group passwd \*
Delete a group
The effect of the command
groupdel users
is given by the following code:
group='users' niutil -destroy . /groups/$group
Add an user
The effect of the command
useradd -m fred
is given by the following code:
user='fred' user_id=500 group_id=100 group_name="$user" home_directory="/Users/$user" real_name="$user" login_shell=`which bash` niutil -create . /users/$user niutil -createprop . /users/$user uid $user_id niutil -createprop . /users/$user name "$user" niutil -create . /groups/$group_name niutil -createprop . /groups/$group_name name $group_name niutil -createprop . /groups/$group_name gid $group_id niutil -createprop . /groups/$group_name passwd \* niutil -createprop . /groups/$group_name users $user mkdir -p $home_directory chown $user:$group_name $home_directory niutil -createprop . /users/$user home $home_directory niutil -createprop . /users/$user realname $realname niutil -createprop . /users/$user shell $login_shell
I didn't manage to provide a password with the help of niutil and passwd.
But it worked with:
dscl / -passwd /Users/$user $password
Delete an user
The effect of the command
userdel fred
is given by the following code:
user='fred' group='fred' niutil -destroy . /users/$user niutil -destroyval . /groups/$group users $user
Using dscl
Examine users and groups
The groups list can be examined with:
dscl . -list /Groups
The frontrow group's properties can be examined with:
dscl . -read /Groups/frontrow
The users list can be examined with:
dscl . -list /Users
The frontrow user's properties can be examined with:
dscl . -read /Users/frontrow
Modify users and groups
The following scripts
provide the functionality of the corresponding Linux commands based on dscl commands
Add a group
The effect of the command
groupadd -g 100 users
is given by the following code:
group='users' group_id=100 dscl . -create /Groups/$group dscl . -create /Groups/$group PrimaryGroupID $group_id dscl . -create /Groups/$group Password '*'
Delete a group
The effect of the command
groupdel users
is given by the following code:
group='users' dscl . -delete /Groups/$group
Add an user
The effect of the command
useradd -m fred
is given by the following code:
user='fred' password='fred' user_id=500 group_id=100 group_name="$user" home_directory="/Users/$user" real_name="$user" login_shell=`which bash` dscl . -create /Users/$user dscl . -append /Groups/$group_name GroupMembership $user mkdir -p $home_directory chown $user:$group_name $home_directory dscl . -create /Users/$user NFSHomeDirectory $home_directory dscl . -create /Users/$user UserShell $login_shell dscl . -create /Users/$user RealName $real_name dscl . -passwd /Users/$user $password
Delete an user
The effect of the command
userdel fred
is given by the following code:
user='fred' group='fred' dscl . -delete /Users/$user dscl . -delete /Groups/$group GroupMembership $user
