Managing User Accounts And Resource Access; Managing User Accounts; The Username - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 3 - INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION Administration Manual

Managing User Accounts and Resource Access

Managing user accounts and groups is an essential part of system administration within an organiza-
tion. But to do this effectively, a good system administrator must first understand what user accounts
and groups are and how they work.
The primary reason for user accounts is to verify the identity of each individual using a computer
system. A secondary (but still important) reason for user accounts is to permit the per-individual
tailoring of resources and access privileges.
Resources can include files, directories, and devices. Controlling access to these resources is a large
part of a system administrator's daily routine; often the access to a resource is controlled by groups.
Groups are logical constructs that can be used to cluster user accounts together for a common purpose.
For example, if an organization has multiple system administrators, they can all be placed in one
system administrator group. The group can then be given permission to access key system resources.
In this way, groups can be a powerful tool for managing resources and access.
The following sections discuss user accounts and groups in more detail.

6.1. Managing User Accounts

As stated earlier, user accounts are the method by which an individual is identified and authenticated
to the system. User accounts have several different components to them. First, there is the username.
The password is next, followed by the access control information.
The following sections explore each of these components in more detail.

6.1.1. The Username

From the system's standpoint, the username is the answer to the question, "who are you?" As such,
usernames have one major requirement — they must be unique. In other words, each user must have
a username that is different from all other usernames on that system.
Because of this requirement, it is vital to determine — in advance — how usernames are to be created.
Otherwise, you may find yourself in the position of being forced to react each time a new user requests
an account.
What you need is a naming convention for your user accounts.
6.1.1.1. Naming Conventions
By creating a naming convention for usernames, you can save yourself a great deal of trouble. Instead
of making up names as you go along (and finding it harder and harder to come up with a reasonable
name), you do some work up-front and devise a convention to be used for all subsequent user accounts.
Your naming convention can be very simple, or the description alone could take several pages to
document.
The exact nature of your naming convention should take several factors into account:
The size of your organization
•
The structure of your organization
•
The nature of your organization
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Chapter 6.