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I went into the control center > users and want to create a user without a password. I put in a name but I get a password input box. If I click cancel it tells me the account is disabled. If I click enable it comes up with the password input box. Can I make one without a password?

Yes you can, but that is not very practical ..

How do you?

It's for my brother. He needs people to be able to access the computer without a password for debate. I was thinking no password needed but limited privileges.

David M wrote:How do you?

It's for my brother. He needs people to be able to access the computer without a password. I was thinking no password needed but limited privileges.

1. Make a normal account to your brother

2. Edit the /etc/shadow file

sudo cp /etc/shadow /etc/shadow.old

sudo nano /etc/shadow

your_brother:.:15129:0:99999:7:::

Remove all marks and alphabets between dots.

I may be an idiot. I started with
and then I changed it to
but I can't log in to it. I'm assuming I did it wrong?

David M wrote:I may be an idiot. I started with

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debate:$6$pDro18C0$e7QYrt71rBOn.f2XcM8pC.zCcERYzvjGyRdJ9X.tR2HwDacV9kaEWcHQVyrUVZGZfp3sndANsyNjwu9cYGvWl0:15234::::::

and then I changed it to

Code: Select all

debate:...:::::::

but I can't log in to it. I'm assuming I did it wrong?

My bad ..

That worked great. Thanks a lot!

I tried this and it didn't work for me. I am trying to do the same thing, to create a separate limited-access account in MATE on Linux Mint 14 for my girlfriend. This is the string I see in the file "shadow" so far:
How should I abbreviate it so she can log in without a password? I abbreviated it several ways according to the instructions here (removing everything but ":" and numbers; removing everything but ":." and numbers; and removing everything but ":.$" and numbers) and nothing works.

On a related note, I don't know why developers don't bother to fix this obvious problem. When we check off in "Users and Groups" that we want a user to log in without a password, it should take us literally. This seems like a bug to me. Where is the right place to submit this bug to the Linux Mint community?

I think the simplest thing is to understand that an account (userid + password) is the norm, and to provide a simple password, such as the enter key
--that should work if the person enters their account name + the enter key on the keyboard (they probably won't even realize that they have entered a password).

midtempo,
Another time start a new thread with a new question rather than tacking one onto a 14 month old thread

I tacked onto the thread because I found out that I had the same issue but the resolution offered did not actually work for me. I thought it would be useful to have the same background information here so that someone reading it could understand what is going on. But I won't post onto a dead thread again next time if that is what you all prefer, I will post a link to the thread instead.

Anyway, I tried setting kristen's password to a blank one, but strangely, I can't do that! I can set it to a different password but not blank. If I tell it to set it to a blank one, it will use my old password instead. This problem is still not solved for me unfortunately.

The only way I know to set a blank password is to leave the "New password" and "Confirmation" fields blank:

But if I do so and click "OK," it does not actually change the password. Oh, and checking off "Don't ask for password on login" does not actually do what it claims to do -- you still have to enter the correct password when prompted.

How can I successfully create a blank password for a user, or make it so that a user does not need a password to log in?

midtempo wrote: This is the string I see in the file "shadow" so far:

Code: Select all

kristen:$6$3M72GK02$A2HJQr2hqfyflVjFNuF5QnmC.Rw1gYSoTPwGCKMkE7XF0hL0VJM3822mEnvaunnhjnQq1UrJCwjjN43cjxm4e1:15666:0:99999:7:::

The field $6$3...4e1 is the password. Just delete it (and be sure to save your edited /etc/shadow file)