New to Unix/Solaris: I just installed Solaris 8 x86 platform on one of my machines and I cant seem to create user profiles. I opened a terminal, typed "useradd" [username], then "passwd" [password] and all was well. When I tried to login as that user it told me that no such profile exists in the /home directory. I tried to add it both thru the terminal and in the gui but no go. I checked the permissions and they were only read and execute. As root, I tried to chmod 777 ,etc, the directory but it told me I couldnt change the /home directory. I also tried to change the permissions on the directory in the GUI but they were grayed out. Any suggestions? By any chance would this have anything to do with me taking the PC off the network? When I installed the OS, I set it up for networking and later disconnected the cable without removing the interface. It's still off and will remain off until I'm positive there are no process or services that may interfere on my office network. Could this by some chance have caused a problem? Thanks

I never used the GUI interface. From the Shell prompt you should be able to setup an account with: Add the group first: # groupadd -g group_id login_name Check the default home directory: # useradd -D If the default home directory is not set to /home then set it (or whatever choice you want. # useradd -D -b /home Then add the user account: # useradd -g group_id -u user_id \ -s /bin/ksh -c "Joe Smith" -m login_name useradd should copy a rudimentary .profile into /home/login_name

probably not so bright to chmod /home to 777. unless you didnt do it recursively. or you have dumb users....

I had the same problem, Heather. I tried what PaulS suggested - thanks btw Paul, learned some things - but still my sys didn't like it. So I created a /users instead. If you managed to find a fix I'd like to hear about it.

Heather Said >I opened a terminal, typed "useradd" [username] Use the -m switch with useradd to automatically create the user's home directory and copy the default profile from the /etc/skel directory. > it told me that no such profile exists in the /home directory. > ...I checked the permissions and they were only read and execute. The /home directory is reserved for mounting by NFS on Solaris 8. /export/home is the usual place to put the home directories. > would this have anything to do with me taking the PC off the network? Only if you set it up to mount home directories from another server. PaulS said > Check the default home directory: > ># useradd -D You will see something like this: group=staff,10 basedir=/export/home skel=/etc/skel shell=/bin/sh You can set these defaults by running useradd -D again with these switches so running the useradd command will be easier: -g group (name or number) -s shell (ie. /bin/bash or /bin/ksh or /bin/tcsh) -b basedir (where your home directories will be) > useradd should copy a rudimentary .profile into /home/login_name That is useradd when you use the -m switch, but /home/ is the wrong place on Solaris 8.

Correction to what I just said about useradd -D You can't modify the default shell for a new user. Use the -s switch every time you create a new user if you don't want /bin/sh.