Create, lock, and unlock user account on Redhat

User account activities on Redhat

1. Lock the user password
# usermod -L username

2. Force password change upon initial login.
# chage -d 0 username

3. Unlock the account
There are two common approaches to this step.
The administrator can assign an initial password or assign a null password.

Note: passwd disables the immediate password expiration just configured.

a. Assign a null password instead of an initial password.
# usermod -p "" username

b. Using Python interpreter with the python command and usermod.
# python
at the prompt, type the following commands. Replace with the password to encrypt and with a random combination of at least 2 of the following: any alphanumeric character, the slash (/) character or a dot (.).

# import crypt; print crypt.crypt("","")

The output is the encrypted password, similar to '12CsGd8FRcMSM'.
Press Ctrl-D to exit the Python interpreter.

At the shell, enter the following command (replacing with the encrypted output of the Python interpreter):

# usermod -p ""

4. Adding a new user account
# useradd myuser
# passwd myuser

source:redhat