Manage Users and Passwords on Mac devices

Updated 3 months ago by Yukti Rathore

The following shell script helps IT Admins to create a user(s) account on Mac devices with specified parameters.

1. Create a file on your desktop, for example, CreateUseronMac.sh and open it in a text editor like notepad++
2. Copy the contents below to the file or click here to download the file.

   #!/bin/sh   
   
   # Add the user name
   username="XXXXXXX"
   # Add the display name of the User   
   displayName="XXXXXXXXXXXXX"
   # Set the password for the user
   password="XXXXXX"
   # If admin account is needed then set "yes" else "no"
   admin="XX"
   # If hidden account is needed then set "yes" else "no"
   hidden="XX"
   # Set the password hint if required. Else set empty string ""
   passwordhint="XX"
   # Set the account image if required. Else set empty string ""
   accountimage="XX"
   
   ##### DO NOT EDIT BELOW CODE #####
   
   if id "$username" &>/dev/null; then
       echo "$username already exists. Exiting script"
       exit 1
   fi
   
   
   # determine next available UID
   highestUID=$( dscl . -list /Users UniqueID | /usr/bin/awk '$2>m {m=$2} END { print m }' )
   nextUID=$(( ${highestUID//[ $'\001'-$'\037']}+1 ))
   
   echo "Creating user with username: $username, displayName: $displayName, password: $password"
   echo "isAdminAccount: $admin, isHidden: $hidden, passwordHint: $passwordhint, accountimage: $accountimage"
   
   dscl . -create "/Users/$username"
   dscl . -create "/Users/$username" RealName "$displayName"
   dscl . -passwd "/Users/$username" "$password"  
   dscl . -create "/Users/$username" UniqueID "$nextUID"  
   dscl . -create "/Users/$username" UserShell /bin/bash
   
   # make the account admin, if specified
   if [[ "$admin" = "yes" ]]; then
   	dscl . -create "/Users/$username" PrimaryGroupID 80  
       dscl . append /Groups/admin GroupMembership "$username"
   else
   	dscl . -create "/Users/$username" PrimaryGroupID 20  
   fi
   
   # hide the account, if specified
   if [[ "$hidden" = "yes" ]]; then
       dscl . create "/Users/$username" IsHidden 1
       dscl . create "/Users/$username" NFSHomeDirectory "/private/var/$username"
       cp -R /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj "/Users/$username"
       chown -R "$username:admin" "/Users/$username"
   else
       dscl . create "/Users/$username" NFSHomeDirectory "/Users/$username"
       cp -R /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj "/Users/$username"
       chown -R "$username:staff" "/Users/$username"
   fi
   
   # set password hint if mentioned
   if [ ! -z "$passwordhint" ]; then
   	dscl . -create "/Users/$username" hint "$passwordhint"
   fi
   
   # set account image if mentioned
   if [ ! -z "$accountimage" ]; then
   	dscl . -create "/Users/$username" picture "$accountimage"
   fi
   
   
   
   echo "Successfully created the account"

3. Replace the following data in the above script according to your requirements:
   1. username: replace it with the name of the user account that you want to create.
   2. displayName: replace it with the display name of the user.
   3. password: enter the password that you want to set for the user.
   4. admin: if you want to add an admin account on the device then set yes or else no.
   5. hidden: if you want to add a hidden account on the device then set yes or else no.
   6. passwordhint: enter a password hint or keep it blank.
   7. accountimage: add and image for account or keep it blank.
      For example:

      #!/bin/sh   
      
      # Add the user name
      username="Scalefusion"
      # Add the display name of the User   
      displayName="Scalefusion Standard User"
      # Set the password for the user
      password="123456"
      # If admin account is needed then set "yes" else "no"
      admin="no"
      # If hidden account is needed then set "yes" else "no"
      hidden="no"
      # Set the password hint if required. Else set empty string ""
      passwordhint=""
      # Set the account image if required. Else set empty string ""
      accountimage=""

4. Follow our guide to upload & publish the Shell script using Scalefusion Dashboard.

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