Gpe-UserManagement Brief Overview
*Images distorted, scaps welcome!*
Section 1- Accessing and FAQ's.
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This program can be accessed under the settings folder in the main screen. It is called User Manager.
Figure 1.1 Settings Folder from main screen
Lets go over some questions first:
Q. Why do I have to have another user, can't I just be root all the time?
A. This is not a good idea, since root has no limitations nothing would stop it if you accidentally typed in rm * or mkfs instead of fsck.
Q. If I'm not supose to login as root, how do I change my settings?
A. Under the settings folder there is a program called User Access. Inside of this program you can enable an option that allows normal users to configure things. Any configuration needed from the command line can be given from a simple su command.
Q. Ok, so I have a root account and my own account, but now I want more, how do I do that?
A. Creating a new user is easy, simply follow the steps in the tutorial.
Q. I deleted a user and now it says I can't create the same user becuase the name is taken.
A. You need to delete the user's group, open up a terminal and tap in delgroup (desired group).
Q. My question about user management was not answered here, what do I do?
A. Send an e-mail off to gpe mailing list and they will answer your question, and then post it here.
Section 2- Creating a new user
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Under the program tap on the blank page icon. You can then enter in the desired information. Here is a description of the options:
1. User Name: This is the name you will use to login to your ipaq, it can be anything you want.
2. Password: Here you can change your password, since no password has yet been selected, you can leave the old password space blank and enter in the new password in the new password box and the confirm box using an input method. Then tap ok to set your password.
3. User Info: This is were you can enter your full name, you can also enter whatever you like, however that makes it difficult to remember who's account it is if the user name is not the name.
4. Shell: This is where you can select the shell you wish to use for the account. Different shells can be downloaded from http://ipkgfind.handhelds.org . The deafult shell is /bin/sh.
5. Home: This is where you store the documents for that user. It is a good idea to keep it in the /home/ directory and with the folder being the users name. But, if you so desire it can be /home/whatever.
6. Tap ok and your user will be created.
Figure 2.1 Application main menu
Figure 2.2 Creating a new user
Figure 2.4 After View
Section 3- Other ways to create a user
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Well, if all the fancy gui way of creating a user don't suite you, your in luck. Creating a user is as simple as opening up a terminal. In the terminal tap in adduser (user name) a group and home directory will automatically be created. Of course, you won't be able to set the default home directory and user info, but i'm sure you can edit some file somewhere if you really want to.
Figure 3.1 Creating a user using the terminal
Section 4- Editing an existing user
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Editing an exiting user is also easy. Simply open up the User Manager application, tap on the desired user, and then tap on the page with a wrench icon at the top, after your modifications are complete, tap ok.
Section 5- Changing the password
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Changing the password can be achieved it two different ways. You can open up the user management program, tap on the user, and then tap on the page with a wrench icon, and then on the Change box. After you have entered in the old and new passwords, tap ok and it will be changed. If you want to change it form the terminal you can use the su command as the normal user (You shouldn't be logged in as root, right
) and enter in the root password. When you see a # instead of $ in the terminal you know you are root. Use the command passwd (user name) and enter in the new password. This can be usefull if you have forgotten the old one.
Figure 2.3 Changing the password
Figure 2.5 Changing the password from the terminal
Section 6- Deleting a User
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There are two ways of deleting a user. You can either open up the user administration program and select the user and then tap on the trash icon, or you can open up a terminal and tap in deluser (user name). Note: When deleting a user from the terminal the group and home directory are not deleted. To delete the group tap in delgroup (group) and to delete the home directory cd /home/ and then rm -r (directory).
Figure 6.1 Deleting a group
