sm-inspect-users management extension analyzes key authentication-related files on either local, or remote server:
/etc/group/etc/passwd/etc/shadow~/.ssh/authorized_keys(for all users)
Next, for each server it creates a script that can recreate existing:
- groups
- users
- passwords (in encrypted form)
- home directories (commands that rsync them fron another server)
- ssh keys
- Samba passwords
on a fresh system.
Traditional, generic tools that export user credentials, generate complicated commands, that duplicate various default options, eg.
useradd -m -d /home/steve steve
This example may look ok at the first sight, but if you manage X servers, each with different set of users and their specific options, then having scripts duplicating unnecessary details like -d /home/steve, becomes a problem. This is much better:
useradd -m steve
Therefore, what this extension really does, is:
- analyze the files mentioned above
- compute, which user options follow default values and can be skipped
- generate optimized scripts, with minimal set of options