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Lab 5 - User Management

In this lab, you will explore user and group management in Linux (Ubuntu) and Unix (OPNSense). You will locate and analyze password, shadow, and group files, manually create a user and group by editing these files, and test SSH access on Ubuntu. Using useradd and groupadd, you will craft another user and switch identities with su. The process will repeat on OPNSense, noting Linux-Unix differences. Deliverables will include a lab report and two new users per system, encouraging your creative problem-solving in a real-world-like setting.

Objectives

  • Understand how users and groups are stored and created in Linux and Unix
  • Manually create users and groups on both platforms
  • Demonstrate an ability to switch between users

Stage 1 - Lab Report

The primary deliverable of this lab will consist of a lab report. Instructions for each part of this lab constitute what I expect to see on the final lab report. Complete the following on your Ubuntu machine. At the end of the lab, you will repeat the process on your Unix (OPNSense) machine.

Step 1 - Manually Create a User

Using what you’ve learned, go through the process of manually creating a user by editing these files.  DO NOT use the built-in commands to accomplish this. Document the steps you used to create the user. Make sure to also create a group in which the new user is the only member. Test that you can login to this new user using SSH (You only need to do this last part on your Ubuntu machine).

Be sure not to accidentally create a new user with a UID of "0", as that is the UID of the "root" user. Doing so may result in you locking yourself out of the primary account and being unable to login.

Step 2 - Useradd and Groupadd (And UNIX equivalents)

Now create another user using the useradd and groupadd. Document the commands used. Now, use the su command to switch between these users. Make sure to demonstrate you can swap between these users.

Step 3 - UNIX Comparison

Repeat steps 1 and 2 on your UNIX (OPNsense) machine. Mark down the differences you observe in Unix vs Linux. How are they the same? How are they different?

Please submit this lab report to the Lab 5 dropbox on eClass and continue to the next section.

Stage 2 - LDAP Setup

 

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