Saturday, January 27, 2024

[SOLVED] How to create a bash script in Linux that checks if the user is local or not

Issue

I'm trying to create a Linux bash script that prompts for a username. For example, it asks for a username, once the username it's typed it will check if the user exists or not. I already tried to do it, but I'm not sure if I did it correctly. I would appreciate your help.

Here is how I did it:

    #!/bin/bash

      echo "Enter your username:"

    read username

    if [ $(getent passwd $username) ] ; then

      echo "The user $username is a local user."

    else

      echo "The user $username is not a local user."

    fi

Solution

if grep -q "^${username}:" /etc/passwd; then
      echo "yes the user '$username' exists locally"
fi

OR

getent command is designed to gather entries for the databases that can be backed by /etc files and various remote services like LDAP, AD, NIS/Yellow Pages, DNS and the likes.

if getent passwd "$username" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "yes the user '$username' exists either local or remote"
fi

Will do your job, for example below

#!/bin/bash

echo "Enter your username:"
read username
if getent passwd "$username" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "yes the user '$username' exists either local or remote"
else
    echo "No, the user '$username' does not exist"
fi


Answered By - Akshay Hegde
Answer Checked By - Mildred Charles (WPSolving Admin)
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