create users

[gregworley]

is there a way to systematically create a new user in linux using go?
right now I'm using a python script to do this, and I don't see
adduser in the syscall package.

[Russ Cox]

On Tue, May 3, 2011 at 15:31, gregworley <gr...@worleyworks.com> wrote:
> is there a way to systematically create a new user in linux using go?

not short of using exec.Run.

[Brad Fitzpatrick]

What does your existing python script do that Go can't?

adduser isn't a system call (in the userspace <-> kernel sense) ... it's just a program that sets things up in the right places owned by the right uid/gids and registers the name<->uid map somewhere.  I doubt your Python script is doing all that right now, is it?  Or is your Python just shelling out to e.g. /usr/sbin/adduser?

If you run your Go binary as root, though, you should be able to do anything that /usr/sbin/adduser does.

[gregworley]

thanks Brad - no, the python script isn't doing this - it's using
p.expect to script /usr/sbin/adduser - p.expect deals with the input
required to execute /usr/sbin/adduser

But, what you're suggesting is probably the right way to do it - set
it up directly by implementing what /usr/sbin/adduser is doing.

[Brad Fitzpatrick]

That sounds potentially fragile, or at least error-prone.  I wouldn't recommend that... I was just saying "in theory".

You could just do what your Python script is doing with Go:  exec.Run gives you the child process's stdin and stdout to talk to, like your Python expect.

[gregworley]

thanks

[Gustavo Niemeyer]

> thanks Brad - no, the python script isn't doing this - it's using
> p.expect to script /usr/sbin/adduser - p.expect deals with the input
> required to execute /usr/sbin/adduser

I don't recall adduser requiring any interaction, and several packages
actually rely on that to add a user over the installation of the
package. Check out the arguments with adduser --help and simply use
exec.Run.

--
Gustavo Niemeyer
http://niemeyer.net
http://niemeyer.net/blog
http://niemeyer.net/twitter

[gregworley]

thanks again,
in case anyone comes across this, the relevant adduser option is:
--gecos GECOS
Set the gecos field for the new entry generated.
adduser will not ask for finger information if this option is given