@@ -289,3 +289,42 @@ We are now ready to update our list of packages and take full advantage of `apt`
apt-key update
apt-get update
```
###Creating user and group databases
Before we install more software, we must make sure that our password, group and authentication mechanisms are all in place. This is because some packages will require the adding of a new user or group to the system as part of their installation process. Without these base functionalities already in place, installation of said packages will fail.
#####debianutils (
We install debianutils to provide the `tempfile` command needed by one of `base-passwd`'s installation scripts. Without this command, installation of `base-passwd` will fail.
`apt-get install debianutils`
#####base-passwd
We install `base-passwd` to provide standard the standard minimal `/etc/passwd` and `/etc/group` files, which are the same across all debian systems. It does this by running the `update-passwd` binary upon its installation.
`apt-get install base-passwd`
#####Creating /etc/shadow and /etc/gshadow
We have to manually create `/etc/shadow` and `/etc/gshadow`, as the `passwd` package will fail to configure if it cannot find these files:
`touch /etc/shadow /etc/gshadow`
#####login
We then install the `login` package, which gives us the ability to establish new sessions on the system with `login`, privilege escalation with `su`, the linux pluggable authentication module (PAM) files for both said binaries, a fake shell `/bin/nologin`, and the `/etc/login.defs` file which is essential for group creation. There are more functionalities included with this package, but these are the most mentionable.
`apt-get install login`
#####passwd
We then install `passwd` package, which provides the lion's share of utilities and configuration files used to create and manipulate user and group account information.
`apt-get install passwd`
#####adduser
We must also install the `adduser` package, because this provides us with the default `/etc/adduser.conf` file which will be needed to install new users properly.
`apt-get install adduser`
#####Establishing root password and shadowfile entries
With all the aforementioned utilities and packages installed, our system is now capable of the full functionality of user & group account manipulation.
At this point, we should run passwd to change our root password.
`passwd root`
We should then run `pwconv` to convert our /etc/passwd entries into shadow entries in `/etc/shadow`
