Ubuntu

Why can't we have certain usernames?

Asked by Michael James

Why can't our usernames have capitol letters in them, or have a period in the (like michael.james) This would help with Active Directory/ Kerberos logins.

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Answered
For:
Ubuntu Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Daniel Aguirre (danielah91) said : 		#1

My username has three capital letters.

Revision history for this message
Michael James (mbj1103) said : 		#2

As in your login name has 3 capitols in it? I tried to make a user with the GUI and it says that only lowercase letters and number can be used.

Revision history for this message
Krzysztof Klimonda (kklimonda) said : 		#3

You can create usernames with dots or/and capital letters using useradd from terminal. However you should avoid it as some (mostly older) software may have problems with such a usernames (for example I remember that sendmail didn't distinguish capital from lowercase letters in the past while checking usernames).
Also if you are integrating Ubuntu with Active Directory there is already software for that in Universe repository.

Can you help with this problem?

Provide an answer of your own, or ask Michael James for more information if necessary.

To post a message you must log in.