[Bug 269193] manpage for pw seems unclear for usermod and the use of -n name
Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2023 01:32:45 UTC
https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=269193
Bug ID: 269193
Summary: manpage for pw seems unclear for usermod and the use
of -n name
Product: Base System
Version: CURRENT
Hardware: Any
OS: Any
Status: New
Severity: Affects Only Me
Priority: ---
Component: misc
Assignee: bugs@FreeBSD.org
Reporter: dclarke@blastwave.org
The manpage for pw states in a section for "USER OPTIONS" :
USER OPTIONS
The following options apply to the useradd and usermod commands:
[-n] name Required unless -u uid is given. Specify the user/account
name. In the case of usermod can be a uid.
-u uid Required if name is not given. Specify the user/account
numeric id. In the case of usermod if paired with name,
changes the numeric id of the named user/account.
Usually, only one of these options is required, as the
account name will imply the uid, or vice versa. However,
there are times when both are needed. For example, when
changing the uid of an existing user with usermod, or
overriding the default uid when creating a new account with
useradd. To automatically allocate the uid to a new user
with useradd, then do not use the -u option. Either the
account or userid can also be provided immediately after
the useradd, userdel, usermod, or usershow keywords on the
command line without using the -n or -u options.
Therefore I would think that "pw usermod -n 16411 -s /bin/sh" would be
accepted since "In the case of usermod can be a uid." However :
styx# pw usermod -n 16411 -s /bin/sh
pw: no such user `16411'
styx#
I certainly do not want to change the uid of the user.
The manpage states "-u uid" results in "In the case of usermod if
paired with name, changes the numeric id of the named user/account.
Well I do not want to change the userid number.
However it seems I need to state the username and not the uid :
styx# pw usermod -n dclarke -s /bin/sh
styx#
Seems unclear to me.
--
You are receiving this mail because:
You are the assignee for the bug.