Unix::Mgt - lightweight Unix management tools
# get user account $user = Unix::Mgt::User->get('fred'); # display some info print 'uid: ', $user->uid, "\n"; print join(', ', $user->groups()), "\n"; # set some properties $user->gid('websters'); $user->shell('/bin/bash'); $user->add_to_group('postgres'); # create user account $user = Unix::Mgt::User->create('vera'); # get user account, creating it if necessary $user = Unix::Mgt::User->ensure('molly'); # get group $group = Unix::Mgt::Group->get('www-data'); # display some info print 'gid: ', $group->gid, "\n"; print join(', ', $group->members()), "\n"; # add a member $group->add_member('tucker');
Unix::Mgt provides simple object-oriented tools for managing your Unixish system. Currently this module provides tools for managing users and groups. Other tools may follow as they evolve.
Unix::Mgt does not directly manipulate any of the system files such as /etc/passwd. This module uses Perl's built-in Unix functions such as getgrent to get information, and Unix's built-in programs such as adduser.
/etc/passwd
getgrent
adduser
In the spirit of "release early, release often", I'm releasing this version of Unix::Mgt before it has all the features that might be expected. This version does not include methods for removing users from groups, renaming users or groups, or several other methods.
A Unix::Mgt::User object represents a user in the Unix system. The object allows you to get and set information about the user account. A user object is created in one of three ways: get, create, or ensure. The new method is an alias for get.
get
create
ensure
new
Unix::Mgt::User objects stringify to the account's name. For example, the following code would output miko.
miko
$user = Unix::Mgt::User->get('miko'); print $user, "\n";
Unix::Mgt::User->get() retrieves user account information using getpwnam or getpwuid. The single param for this method is either the name or the uid of the user.
getpwnam
getpwuid
$user = Unix::Mgt::User->get('vera'); $user = Unix::Mgt::User->get('1010');
If the user is not found then the do-not-have-user error id is set in $Unix::Mgt::err_id and undef is returned.
do-not-have-user
$Unix::Mgt::err_id
Unix::Mgt::User->create() creates a user account. The required param for this method is the name for the new account.
$user = Unix::Mgt::User->create('vera');
If the system param is true, then the account is created as a system user, like this:
system
$user = Unix::Mgt::User->create('lanny', system=>1);
create() uses the Unix adduser program.
Unix::Mgt::User->ensure() gets a user account if it already exists, and creates the account if it does not. For example, the following lines ensures the molly account:
molly
$user = Unix::Mgt::User->ensure('molly');
Returns the name of the user account. Currently this method cannot be used to set the account name.
print $user->name(), "\n";
Returns the user's user id (uid).
print $user->uid(), "\n";
Returns the password field from getpwname(). This method will not actually return a password, it will probably just return *.
getpwname()
*
print $user->passwd(), "\n"; # probably outputs "*"
Sets/gets the gid of the user's primary group. Called without params, it returns the user's gid:
print $user->gid(), "\n";
Called with a single param, gid() sets, then returns the user's primary group id:
print $user->gid('1010'), "\n";
If you want to get a Unix::Mgt::Group object representing the user's primary group, use $user->group().
Sets/gets the user's home directory. Called without params, it returns the directory name:
print $user->dir(), "\n";
Called with a single param, dir() sets, then returns the user's home directory:
print $user->dir('/tmp'), "\n";
Sets/gets the user's default command line shell. Called without params, it returns the shell name:
print $user->shell(), "\n";
Called with a single param, shell() sets, then returns the user's shell:
print $user->shell('/bin/sh'), "\n";
Sets/gets the user's primary group. When called without any params, group() returns a Unix::Mgt::Group object representing the user's primary group:
group()
$group = $user->group();
When called with a single param, group() sets the user's primary group. The param can be either the group's name or its gid:
$user->group('video'); $user->group(44);
secondary_groups() returns an array of the user's secondary groups. Each element in the array is a Unix::Mgt::Group object.
secondary_groups()
@groups = $user->secondary_groups();
groups() returns an array of all of the groups the user is a member of. The first element in the array will be the user's primary group.
groups()
@groups = $user->groups();
add_to_group() adds the user to a group. The group will be one of the user's secondary groups, not the primary group.
add_to_group()
$user->add_to_group('video');
remove removes the user account from the system. remove does not take any parameters.
remove
$user->remove();
A Unix::Mgt::Group object represents a group in the Unix system. The object allows you to get and set information about the group. A group object is created in one of three ways: get, create, or ensure. The new method is an alias for get.
Unix::Mgt::Group objects stringify to the groups's name. For example, the following code would output video.
video
$group = Unix::Mgt::Group->get('video'); print $group, "\n";
Unix::Mgt::Group->get() retrieves group information using getgrnam or getgrgid. The single param for this method is either the name or the gid of the group.
getgrnam
getgrgid
$group = Unix::Mgt::Group->get('video'); $group = Unix::Mgt::Group->get('44');
If the group is not found then the do-not-have-group error id is set in $Unix::Mgt::err_id and undef is returned.
do-not-have-group
Unix::Mgt::Group->create() creates a group. The required param for this method is the name for the new group.
$group = Unix::Mgt::Group->create('websters');
create() uses the Unix groupadd program.
groupadd
Unix::Mgt::Group->ensure() gets a group if it already exists, and creates the group if it does not. For example, the following lines ensures the wbesters group:
wbesters
$group = Unix::Mgt::User->ensure('wbesters');
Returns the name of the group. Currently this method cannot be used to set the group name.
print $group->name(), "\n";
Returns the groups's group id (gid).
print $group->gid(), "\n";
members() returns an array of all members of the group. Both users for whom this is the primary group, and users for whom this is a secondary group are returned.
members()
@members = $group->members();
The elements in the array are Unix::Mgt::User objects.
primary_members() returns an array of users for whom this is the primary group.
primary_members()
@members = $group->primary_members();
The elements in the returned array are Unix::Mgt::User objects.
secondary_members() returns an array of users for whom this is a secondary group.
secondary_members()
@members = $group->secondary_members();
add_member() adds a user to the group as a secondary group. The single param can be a user name, uid, or Unix::Mgt::User object.
add_member()
$group->add_member('miko');
If the user is already a member of the group then nothing is done and no error is set.
remove removes the group from the system. remove does not take any parameters.
$group->remove();
If any users have the group as a primary group then this method will fail.
Passwd::Unix and Unix::Passwd::File provide similar functionality.
Copyright (c) 2014 by Miko O'Sullivan. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. This software comes with no warranty of any kind.
Miko O'Sullivan miko@idocs.com
miko@idocs.com
This is an early release of Unix::Mgt. It does not include methods for deleting users, removing them from groups, or other deletion oriented objectives.
Please feel free to contribute code for these purposes.
Initial release
Changed addgroup to groupadd.
Added tests for existence of adduser, usermod, and groupadd.
Fixed some POD formatting issues.
Revised tests to include test names.
Added $user->remove() and $group->remove().
Added slots where BSD-style commands will go. Currently, methods for creating, modifying, or deleting users or group will fail on BSD.
Added support for BSD. The support is poorly tested because I don't have a BSD system. Any feedback is appreciated.
Added Unix::Mgt::User::new and Unix::Mgt::Group::new as aliases to get().
To install Unix::Mgt, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.
cpanm
cpanm Unix::Mgt
CPAN shell
perl -MCPAN -e shell install Unix::Mgt
For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.