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LX0-104 · Question #295

An administrator has a user whose account needs to be disabled but not removed. Which of the following should the administrator do?

The correct answer is D. Edit /etc/passwd and insert an * after the first : .. To disable a user account without removing it, an asterisk should be inserted into the password field of the /etc/passwd file, making the password invalid and preventing login.

Administrative Tasks

Question

An administrator has a user whose account needs to be disabled but not removed. Which of the following should the administrator do?

Options

  • AEdit /etc/gshadow and just remove the user name. and just remove the user? name.
  • BEdit /etc/passwd and change all numbers to 0.
  • CEdit /etc/shadow and remove the last field.
  • DEdit /etc/passwd and insert an * after the first : .
  • EEdit /etc/group file and put a # sign in front of the user name. sign in front of the user? name.

How the community answered

(62 responses)
  • A
    2% (1)
  • B
    3% (2)
  • C
    6% (4)
  • D
    76% (47)
  • E
    13% (8)

Why each option

To disable a user account without removing it, an asterisk should be inserted into the password field of the `/etc/passwd` file, making the password invalid and preventing login.

AEdit /etc/gshadow and just remove the user name. and just remove the user? name.

/etc/gshadow manages encrypted group passwords, and simply removing a username from it would not disable a user account; it's also not the correct file for user account disabling.

BEdit /etc/passwd and change all numbers to 0.

Changing all numbers to 0 in `/etc/passwd` is vague, destructive, and not a standard method for disabling an account; it could corrupt the entry.

CEdit /etc/shadow and remove the last field.

/etc/shadow contains hashed passwords and password aging information. Removing the last field would not disable the account and could lead to system instability or incorrect behavior.

DEdit /etc/passwd and insert an * after the first : .Correct

By inserting an asterisk (*) after the first colon in the user's entry in `/etc/passwd` (which is the password field), the system effectively makes the password invalid. This prevents the user from logging in via password authentication while keeping the account and its associated files intact.

EEdit /etc/group file and put a # sign in front of the user name. sign in front of the user? name.

/etc/group defines group memberships. Putting a `#` sign in front of a username in `/etc/group` would comment out that part of the line, which is not the standard way to disable a user account and might only affect group membership without preventing login.

Concept tested: Linux user account disabling

Source: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html/managing_users_and_groups/disabling-an-account_managing-users-and-groups

Topics

#user management#account disable#/etc/passwd#security

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