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4.3. Adding the LFS User
When logged in as user root, making a single mistake can damage or destroy a system. Therefore, we recommend building the packages in this chapter as an unprivileged user. You could use your own user name, but to make it easier to set up a clean working environment, create a new user called lfs as a member of a new group (also named lfs) and use this user during the installation process. As root, issue the following commands to add the new user:
groupadd lfs
useradd -s /bin/bash -g lfs -m -k /dev/null lfs
groupadd lfs
useradd -s /bin/bash -g lfs -m -k /dev/null lfs
The meaning of the command line options:
-s /bin/bash
This makes bash the default shell for user lfs.
-g lfs
This option adds user lfs to group lfs.
-m
This creates a home directory for lfs.
-k /dev/null
This parameter prevents possible copying of files from a skeleton directory (default is /etc/skel) by changing the input location to the special null device.
lfs
This is the actual name for the created group and user.
To log in as lfs (as opposed to switching to user lfs when logged in as root, which does not require the lfs user to have a password), give lfs a password:
passwd lfs
passwd lfs
Grant lfs full access to $LFS/tools by making lfs the directory owner:
chown -v lfs $LFS/tools
chown -v lfs $LFS/tools
If a separate working directory was created as suggested, give user lfs ownership of this directory:
chown -v lfs $LFS/sources
chown -v lfs $LFS/sources
Next, login as user lfs. This can be done via a virtual console, through a display manager, or with the following substitute user command:
su - lfs
su - lfs
The “-” instructs su to start a login shell as opposed to a non-login shell. The difference between these two types of shells can be found in detail in bash(1) and info bash.