Re: numeric users

[Alan Peery <peery io com>]

Cameron Simpson wrote:

> In a former life we used to just present the student ids with an "s",
> thus:
>
> 	s1234567
>
> See if you can do this. It may save you a lot of pain later.
>  
If you're already up and running the numeric user ids, you can smoothly 
transition to the new form of ids--define duplicates for the actual user 
ids.

Note: ****This is the outline, no safety parachute included.*****

cat /etc/passwd > fred
cat /etc/passwd | sed 's/^/s/' >> fred
 then remove the new s-prefixed accounts that aren't student accounts...
 mv fred /etc/passwd


Do similiarly for /etc/shadow.  Make sure your password changes work.  

Test the strategy by duplicating a single line in each file first.

You can then later disable, and then remove, the numeric form of the 
user id.

Alan
--
Alan Peery
peery io com