accounts

Table of Contents

1. Description
2. Setup - The basics of getting started with accounts
3. Usage - Configuration options and additional functionality
   • Declare user accounts
   • Customize the home directory
   • Lock accounts
   • Manage SSH keys
4. Reference - An under-the-hood peek at what the module is doing and how
5. Limitations - OS compatibility, etc.
6. Development - Guide for contributing to the module

Description

The accounts module manages resources related to login and service accounts.

This module works on many UNIX/Linux operating systems. It does not support configuring accounts on Microsoft Windows platforms.

Setup

Beginning with accounts

Declare the accounts class in a Puppet-managed node's manifest:

node default {
  accounts::user { 'dan': }
  accounts::user { 'morgan': }
}

The above example creates accounts, home directories, and groups for Dan and Morgan.

Usage

Declare user accounts

accounts::user { 'bob':
  uid      => '4001',
  gid      => '4001',
  group    => 'staff',
  shell    => '/bin/bash',
  password => '!!',
  locked   => false,
}

Customize the home directory

A simple bashrc and bash_profile rc file is managed by Puppet for each account. These rc files add some simple aliases, update the prompt, add ~/bin to the path, and source the following files (which are not managed by this module) in the following order:

1. /etc/bashrc
2. /etc/bashrc.puppet
3. ~/.bashrc.custom

Account holders can customize their shells by managing their bashrc.custom files. In addition, the system administrator can make profile changes that affect all accounts with a bash shell by managing the '/etc/bashrc.puppet' file.

To install an email foward, configure the .forward file by using the forward_content or forward_source parameters.

Lock accounts

Lock accounts by setting the locked parameter of an account to true.

For example:

accounts::user { 'villain':
  comment => 'Bad Person',
  locked  => true
}

The accounts module sets the account to an invalid shell appropriate for the system Puppet is managing and displays the following message if a user tries to access the account:

$ ssh villain@centos56
This account is currently not available.
Connection to 172.16.214.129 closed.

Manage SSH keys

Manage SSH keys with the sshkeys attribute of the accounts::user defined type. This parameter accepts an array of public key contents as strings.

Example:

accounts::user { 'jeff':
  comment => 'Jeff McCune',
  groups  => [
    'admin',
    'sudonopw',
  ],
  uid     => '1112',
  gid     => '1112',
  sshkeys => [
    'ssh-rsa AAAAB3Nza...== jeff@puppetlabs.com',
    'ssh-dss AAAAB3Nza...== jeff@metamachine.net',
  ],
}

The module supports placing sshkeys in a custom location. If you specify a value for the sshkey_custom_path attribute of the accounts::user defined type, the module will place the keys in the specified file. The module will only manage the specified file and not the full path. If you set purge_sshkeys to true, and you have also set a custom path, it will only purge the ssh keys in the custom path.

Example:

accounts::user { 'gerrard':
  sshkey_custom_path => '/var/lib/ssh/gerrard/authorized_keys',
  shell              => '/bin/zsh',
  comment            => 'Gerrard Geldenhuis',
  groups             => [
    'engineering',
    'automation',
  ],
  uid                => '1117',
  gid                => '1117',
  sshkeys            => [
    'ssh-rsa AAAAB9Aza...== gerrard@dirtyfruit.co.uk',
    'ssh-dss AAAAB9Aza...== gerrard@dojo.training',
  ],
  password           => '!!',
}

Setting sshkey_custom_path is typically associated with setting AuthorizedKeysFile /var/lib/ssh/%u/authorized_keys in your sshd config file.

Reference

See REFERENCE.md

Limitations

For an extensive list of supported operating systems, see metadata.json

Changes from pe_accounts

The accounts module is designed to take the place of the pe_accounts module that shipped with PE versions 2015.2 and earlier. Some of the changes include the removal of the base class, improving the validation, and allowing more flexibility regarding which files should or should not be managed in a user's home directory.

For example, the .bashrc and .bash_profile files are not managed by default but allow custom content to be passed in using the bashrc_content and bash_profile_content parameters. The content for these two files as managed by pe_accounts can continue to be used by passing bashrc_content => file('accounts/shell/bashrc') and bash_profile_content => file('accounts/shell/bash_profile') to the accounts::user defined type.

Development

If you run into an issue with this module, or if you would like to request a feature, please file a ticket.

If you have problems getting this module up and running, please contact Support.