/etc/skell (USER ADMINISTRATION)

In Redhat Enterprise Linux 6  (RHEL 6), when a user is created it have its own home directory. In user's home directory there are some hidden files like .bash_profile, .bashrc, etc. These hidden files automatically created in user's home directory when useradd add command is used to create a user.

There is a directory, in RHEL, /etc/skel which serves as a skeleton for user's home directory, Whenever a user is created all files in /etc/skell are copied in user's home directory. Mainly this directory contains below mentioned files:

.bash_logout .bash_profile .bashrc

/etc/skel directory can be used to set default properties for user, also to give all users a set of required file. This can be useful for a system administrator to give default files to every new user which he/she creates using useradd command . If you put some file in /etc/skel directory, these files will be automatically copied to home directory of a user when you create a new user.


Please comment if you have any doubts about User Administration in Linux or any questions related to RHCSA and RHCE exams....