[lug] Migrating users

[Jeff Schroeder]

Paul asked:

> I'm wondering if I can just copy /etc/shadow and /etc/passwd files to
> the new server or will I have to actually add the users manually.

I'd recommend cut-and-paste on just the user names.  There will be a lot 
of other "system users" such as root, bin, mysql, nobody, etc. and 
you'll probably want to leave them alone on the new server.  But there 
shouldn't be a problem copying the user lines from shadow and passwd to 
the new server.

Of course you'll need to make sure the ownership of the users' 
directories on the new server matches their UIDs and GIDs.  But if 
you're using rsync or tar or something that preserves ownership to 
migrate the files, you should be fine.

HTH,
Jeff
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