What is the difference between adduser and useradd?

Question

What is the difference between the commands adduser and useradd on Ubuntu?

Solution 1

useradd is native binary compiled with the system. But, adduser is a perl script which uses useradd binary in back-end.

adduser is more user friendly and interactive than its back-end useradd. There's no difference in features provided.

also adduser is a wrapper for useradd.

Source: What's the difference between “adduser” and “useradd”?

Solution 2

Always use adduser (and deluser when deleting users) when you're creating new users from the command line. (If you're writing a script, especially if you aim for portability, you might want to use the lowlevel utilities instead – and adduser/deluser might not be available on all distros, e.g. on SuSE.)

The useradd, userdel and usermod commands are lowlevel utilities which are there for historical reasons, while adduser/deluser Do The Right Thing™. (I remember which to use by thinking that user* comes after adduser/deluser in the alphabet, and therefore is "worse".)

According to the respective manpages (on Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin, i.e. a Debian derivative system).

Manpage for adduser says:

(Emphasis added.)

adduser and addgroup add users and groups to the system according to command line options and configuration information in /etc/adduser.conf. They are friendlier front ends to the low level tools like useradd, groupadd and usermod programs, by default choosing Debian policy conformant UID and GID values, creating a home directory with skeletal configuration, running a custom script, and other features. adduser and addgroup can be run in one of five modes:

Manpage for useradd says:

useradd is a low level utility for adding users. On Debian, administrators should usually use adduser(8) instead.

See also: What's the difference between “adduser” and “useradd”? (on SuperUser)

Solution 3

adduser: add user with full profile and info (pass, quota, permission, etc.)

useradd: add user with his name only (if you want to add a temp user with only a name,other info not required)

Solution 4

Another couple of differences, that lead to specific scenarios where useradd might be preferable.

1. In some newer distros, including Ubuntu 14.4, adduser will prompt for information such as password and "gecos" (data for the finger command). This means it can be less suitable for calling from a script (credit: already mentioned in a comment by Wernight).

   The prompts can be suppressed by passing null arguments:

    adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" USER
   

2. useradd allows you to pass multiple additional groups to add a user to by means of the -G option. adduser seems to require that you call the command once for each group to add.

Solution 5

adduser is friendlier in that it sets up the account's home folders and other settings (e.g. automatically loading system stats and notifications on login), whereas useradd just creates the user.

View more solutions

Comments

[Admin]

Same question on Super User and on Server Fault

[Admin]

and it is and stays a good, valid question. The issue is not people asking it in respective contexts, it is that this question needs to be asked at all.

[richsinn]

useradd with the -m option will create the home directory.

[Ricalsin]

+1 and Welcome! I up voted the person who was incapable of explaining their previous down vote. Keep it up! Good programmers always rise to the top - (and don't down vote without an explanation). :)

[Anders]

The implimentation isn't that interesting, the semantics are. Like adduser(8) is more userfriendly and creates and set up a user by default the way you expect. And useradd(8) only do what you ask, so do you want a home directory created, you have to tell it to create it for you.

[MestreLion]

-1: Does not tell the fundamental difference between the commands: they have different roles, one being a low-level tool. The fact that one is a perl script and the other is a binary is irrelevant. Also, there are differences in features.

[Mads Skjern]

I never can remember which one, so this is my stupid mnemonic if it helps anyone :) "user" rhymes with "loser", and "loser" comes last. Thus: adduser, deluser.

[Wernight]

I actually disagree on "Always user adduser": For automated scripts I'd prefer useradd because it's always there, non-interactive, and not distro-specific.

[Quentin Skousen]

I have to google this every time... How can I help myself remember which is which?

[pzkpfw]

@kkhugs to me "adduser" feels the most intuitive because it's a command that sounds like english, while the other does not, semantically. If you remember it as the "most intuitive" of the two, you can also try to remember it as the preferred/easier one.

[cst1992]

I tried adduser on openSUSE, and it's not there.(13.2)

[zrajm]

@cst1992 You're right, I've edited the answer to reflect this. Curiously enough, when I tried locate adduser on a SuSE 11 system at work I found that there was an adduser manpage, but no binary (and neither a deluser manpage nor a command).

[will]

Apparently there is some difference. I have been ensuring various services that do Not need 'system' privileges have user privilege username-s. Say MySQL or a Wiki - There is no need for a privileged to run these kinds of services. But I tried adduser and lots user-oriented extras were made for my 'service' accounts. So I deleted them and now I just use useradd -- from above: " only do what you ask " (but specified a non-existent home...).

[answerSeeker]

useradd is better if you're a true sys admin. Not being able to use adduser in an autonomous script is a real bummer.

[answerSeeker]

Doesn't work on ubuntu 16.04.

[Levon]

under Red Hat /usr/sbin/adduser -> useradd .. sheesh ...

[Levon]

On Red Hat /usr/sbin/adduser -> useradd

[ychaouche]

Wrong. useradd can create home directory with -m, set password with -p, create skeleton files with -k, and add user to group(s) with -G.

[ychaouche]

Wrong. See previous comment

[Thörni]

@ychaouche Theres a difference between "will create [...]" and "can create [...]".

[ychaouche]

Same difference as using a command with default options and using a command with desired options.

[Stephen Shank]

@pzkpfw Completely agree. What do I want to do? "Add a user". Remove " a " and you've got adduser