How to verify user defaults.
If you want to view the defaults, type the useradd command with the -D option as follows:
# useradd -D
GROUP=100
HOME=/home
INACTIVE=-1
EXPIRE=
SHELL=/bin/bash
SKEL=/etc/skel
CREAT_MAIL_SPOOL=yes
GROUP=100
HOME=/home
INACTIVE=-1
EXPIRE=
SHELL=/bin/bash
SKEL=/etc/skel
CREAT_MAIL_SPOOL=yes
You can also use the -D option to change defaults. When run with this flag, useradd refrains from actually creating a new user account; instead, it saves any additionally supplied options as the new default values in /etc/login.defs. Not all useradd options can be used.
To set any of the defaults, give the -D option first; then add any of the defaults you want to set. For example, to set the default home directory location to /home/everyone and the default shell to /bin/tcsh, type the following:
# useradd -D -b /home/everyone -s /bin/tcsh
