If you have managed multiple users or intend to in the future you should find this of interest.
I needed a script which would improve my laziness 
so, I wrote one which parses a CSV file with user names, names, and groups and does the dirty work.
The script will add or update a long list of users, create a password for them, set it to expire, and send the users an email. It includes several options in order to prevent accidentally changing every-one's password...that never happened 
So here it is:
Code:
#!/bin/bash
# create users from list file
cd /home/jake/
mailserver="127.0.0.1"
black='\E[30;48m'
red='\E[31;48m'
green='\E[32;48m'
yellow='\E[33;48m'
blue='\E[34;48m'
magenta='\E[35;48m'
cyan='\E[36;48m'
white='\E[37;48m'
x=0
usernum=0
line=
username=
fullname=
password=
crypword=
groups=
addusers=0
update=0
email=0
userfailed=0
quiet=0
changepassword=0
fake=0
defaultgroups="users,audio,cdrom,floppy,video,plugdev,scanner"
exitstat=
newusersfile="newusers.csv"
existingusersfile="existingusers.csv"
file=""
messagefile="userupdate.html"
domain="home.com"
adminuser="admin"
adminname="Jake"
admingroups="activemembers" # Not completely implemented
adminemail="$adminuser@$domain"
admin="Admin <$adminemail>"
subject="Your new user account"
function usage
{
echo -e "-a --add\tAdd users from $newusersfile"
echo -e "-d --dummy\tUse a dummy user"
echo -e "-e --email\tSend an email to the users"
echo -e "-h --help\tShow this list"
echo -e "-f --fake\tList actions, do nothing"
echo -e "-p --password\tChange passwords"
echo -e "-q --quiet\tBe quiet!"
echo -e "-u --update\tUpdate users from $existingusersfile"
}
function checks
{
if [ $addusers == $update ]; then
usage
exit 1
fi
if [ $addusers == 1 ]; then
file=$newusersfile
fi
if [ $update == 1 ]; then
file=$existingusersfile
fi
if [ $update == 1 ] && [ $changepassword == 1 ]; then
# usage
# exit 1
file="updateusers.csv"
fi
}
function dostuff
{
mkdir /home/$username/Desktop &> /dev/null
mkdir /home/$username/Documents &> /dev/null
mkdir /home/$username/.mozilla &> /dev/null
ln -s ../Desktop /home/$username/.winprofile/ &> /dev/null
ln -s ../../.mozilla /home/$username/.winprofile/Application\ Data/Mozilla &> /dev/null
ln -s ../Documents /home/$username/.winprofile/My\ Documents &> /dev/null
ln -s ../Desktop /home/$username/.winprofile/ &> /dev/null
rm Examples &> /dev/null
# cp -p /home/jake/.dmrc /home/$username/
# chown -R $username:$username /home/$username &> /dev/null
# chmod -R 755 /home/$username/* &> /dev/null
# chmod -R 755 /home/$username/.* &> /dev/null
# chmod 755 /home/$username &> /dev/null
# setfacl -R -P -b /home/$username &> /dev/null
# setfacl -R -P -m g:admin:rwx /home/$username &> /dev/null
# setfacl -R -P -d -m g:admin:rwx /home/$username &> /dev/null
# setfacl -b /home/$username/.dmrc &> /dev/null
chmod 644 /home/$username/.dmrc &> /dev/null
}
function adduser
{
sudo groupadd -f $username &> /dev/null
sudo useradd --comment "$fullname" --create-home --gid $username --groups $defaultgroups$groups $crypword $username &> /dev/null
stat=$?
case $stat in
9 ) echo -e $red"$username exists; bailing!"; tput sgr0
userfailed=1;;
6 ) echo -e $red"$username: unknown group in listing...bailing"; tput sgr0
userfailed=1;;
0 ) userfailed=0;;
* ) echo -e $red"useradd exit status: $stat"; tput sgr0
userfailed=1
esac
if [ $userfailed != 1 ]; then
dostuff
fi
}
function updateuser
{
sudo groupadd $username &> /dev/null
sudo usermod -c "$fullname" -g $username -G $defaultgroups$groups $username &> /dev/null
stat=$?
case $stat in
9 ) echo -e $red"$username exists; Ignoring!"; tput sgr0
userfailed=1;;
8 ) echo -e $red"$username seems to be logged in. bailing on this one..."; tput sgr0
userfailed=1;;
6 ) echo -e $red"$username: does not exist or contains unknown group. please check...bailing"; tput sgr0
userfailed=1;;
1 ) echo -e $red"must be root!"; tput srg0
userfailed=1;;
0 ) userfailed=0;;
* ) echo -e $red"unknown usermod exitstatus: $stat"; tput sgr0
userfailed=1
esac
if [ $userfailed != 1 ]; then
dostuff
fi
}
function handleuser
{
userfailed=0
if [ $changepassword == 1 ]; then
password=$(apg -x8 -n1)
crypword="-p `echo $password| openssl passwd -1 -stdin`"
else
crypword=""
fi
line=$(head -n $x $file | tail -n 1)
if [ -n "$line" ]; then
username=`echo $line| cut -s -d, -f 1| sed "s/\"//g"`
fullname=`echo $line| cut -s -d, -f 2| sed "s/\"//g"`
groups=`echo $line| cut -s -d, -f 3| sed -e "s/\"//g" -e "s/+/,/g"`
fi
if [ -n "$groups" ]; then
groups=`echo ,$groups`
else
groups=""
fi
if [ $update == 1 ]; then
updateuser
fi
if [ $addusers == 1 ]; then
adduser
fi
if [ $changepassword == 1 ] && [ $userfailed == 0 ]; then
sudo passwd --expire --quiet $username
# echo -n $password
echo -e "$password\n$password" | smbpasswd -a -s $username &> /dev/null
fi
if [ $email == 1 ] && [ $userfailed == 0 ]; then
groups=`echo "$groups"| sed -e "s/,/ /g"`
cat $messagefile|
sed --expression "s/usersfullname/$fullname/g" --expression "s/yourusername/$username/g" --expression "s/Username:/Username: $username/g" --expression "s/Password:/Password: $password/g" --expression "s/Groups: /Groups:$groups/g"|
sendEmail -f "$admin" -t "$fullname <$username@$domain>" -bcc $adminemail -u "$subject" -s $mailserver -q
fi
if [ $quiet == 0 ] && [ $userfailed == 0 ]; then
echo -e "$username\E[$usernum;12H$fullname\E[$usernum;33H"$green"done"; tput sgr0
fi
if [ $userfailed == 0 ] && [ $fake == 0 ] && [ $update != 1 ]; then
echo -e "`sed -e '/^[\"]'$username'[\"]/d' $newusersfile`" &> $newusersfile
echo $line >> $existingusersfile
fi
}
function mainloop
{
x=1
usernum=0
y=$(wc -l <$file)
while [ $x -le $y ]; do
let usernum=usernum+1
handleuser
let x=x+1
done
}
while [ "$1" != "" ]; do
case $1 in
-a | --add ) addusers=1;;
# -d | --dummy ) shift; dummy=1;; ## Not implemented
-e | --email ) email=1;;
-h | --help ) usage; exit;;
-f | --fake ) fake=1;;
-p | --password ) changepassword=1;;
# -q | --quiet ) quiet=1;;
-u | --update ) update=1;;
* ) usage; exit 1
esac
shift
done
####MAIN####
checks
clear
if [ $fake == 1 ]; then
exit ## Not completely implemented...
userdel $username
username=$adminuser
fullname=$adminname
groups=$admingroups
handleuser
else
mainloop
fi
if [ $quiet == 0 ]; then
echo -e "\n$green!!! all done !!!\n"; tput sgr0
fi
exit 0
users are added to the samba list but be-ware: users should change their password on windows
note: this feature assumes that you use samba and is configured to sync unix passwords
