I, too, am a one-man IT department for a small school. With the included Linux/Unix tools, additional tools don't seem to be called for. Here is the script that I use to populate a fresh install of Edubuntu with users. This only shows two users, but my real script is 153 of users long. it's just a bash/shell script that you run from the command line (as root, or with sudo, of course):
#!/bin/sh useradd -m -G scanner,plugdev,audio,video,cdrom,games,fuse -s /bin/bash cfreeman useradd -m -G scanner,plugdev,audio,video,cdrom,games,fuse -s /bin/bash jbfreeman echo "Run 'chpasswd < pw2' to establish initial password for new user." The second file (pw2) is just a text file listing users and their passwords like this: jbfreeman:notrealpw1 cfreeman:notrealpw2 All this doesn't do is use a machine generated password. The problem I have with machine generated passwords is that the students cannot remember them. So, I use a password scheme they can remember, but not guess. You don't maintain the files in OpenOffice, but you can use any text editor. I use vi, but could just as well use nano, MousePad, gedit, etc. For what it's worth, I also back up the entire /home directory every night to a tar gz archive, so I can restore student's configuration and files to a fresh server in just a few minutes. My students, 4th grade through 12th grade, really like Edubuntu and use it heavily. With 7 workstations, the lab is often full. Last year's /home backup file was 41 megs. This year's backups run about 4 gigs. I'd be happy to continue discussion along these lines. Andy Figueroa Ohio, USA Mon Sagullo wrote: > Hi. > > My wish list would be coming from a small school with a one-man IT > department :-) > > I could very much use a script and/or a built-in utility in the next > release of Ubuntu that can use a two-column entry in OpenOffice.Org's > Calc with a column of user names and the second column with > machine-generated password, which is then saved in a thumb drive, then > execute this script to populate all the machines with the user names and > user passwords every start of School Year calendar. > ** > Best regards, > Mon Sagullo > Philippines > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > *From:* Darrell Eifert <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Saturday, May 23, 2009 10:04:05 AM > *Subject:* Edubuntu additions for public libraries > > Hello -- > > Without burdening anyone here with too much of a detailed "wish list", > I'd like to inquire as to the best or proper way to request additional > features in Edubuntu or Ubuntu LTSP that would make this distro a very > attractive option for public libraries. In general, we need two things: > first of all a way to lock down or restore a workstation to a pristine > state for each new user, and secondly a way to regulate computer use by > a system of login tickets (randomly generated printed passwords) and > timers (different groups of computers for different periods of time). > > Many librarians are seeing the end of their WinXP workstations > lifecycle, and are looking for better alternatives before having to > spend scarce resources on hardware and software upgrades. > > Many thanks in advance. > > Darrell Eifert > Head of Adult Services > Lane Memorial Library > Hampton, NH > > > -- > edubuntu-users mailing list > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-users > -- edubuntu-users mailing list [email protected] Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-users
