newusers 8 System Management Commands newusers update and create new users in batch newusers new_users The newusers command reads a file of user name and clear-text password pairs and uses this information to update a group of existing users or to create new users. Each line is in the same format as the standard password file (see passwd5 ) with the following exceptions: pw_passwd This field will be encrypted and used as the new value of the encrypted password. pw_gid This field must contain the name (or number) of a group. The user will be added as a member to this group. When a non-existent group name or number is specified, a new group will be created. In the case of a non-existent group number, both the name and the number of the new group will be this number. pw_dir This field will be checked for existence as a directory, and a new directory with this name will be created if it does not already exist. The ownership of the directory will be set to be that of the user being created or updated. This command is intended to be used in a large system environment where many accounts are updated at a single time. The input file must be protected since it contains unencrypted passwords. /etc/login.defs Shadow password suite configuration. login.defs5 , passwd1 , useradd8 .