New User creation script error - bash

Question

I have the script listed below that I can't seem to get the issue worked out of. I'm trying to make an interactive login script for a UNIX class that I'm in. I'm basically building out a command to pass into useradd. The command that I make when passed into the command line (while adding sudo) works as expected, but when I try to run it from my script (which is generating the text that I copy/paste into the command line) it gives me some errors... At this point I'm at a loss for what to try next to resolve the issue.
ERROR:
useradd -m --user-group jaredm2 #command that is attempting to run...
useradd: invalid option -- ' '
Usage: useradd [options] LOGIN
....rest of useradd error text....
SCRIPT:
#!/bin/bash
#Add a new user
FINALCOMMAND="-m"
#import useradd defaults...
. /etc/default/useradd
#Check if running as root
if [ "$(id -u)" != "0" ]; then
echo "This script must be ran as root"
exit 1
fi
#Get the new users Name
#echo -n "Please enter the users First and Last Name and press [ENTER]: "
#read Name
#Get the new users username
echo "The username must be 4-20 characters."
echo -n "Please enter the users requested username and press [ENTER]: "
read USERNAME
while [ $(grep -c "^${USERNAME}:" /etc/passwd) -ge 1 ] || [ ${#USERNAME} -le 3 ] || [ ${#USERNAME} -ge 21 ]
do
echo " "
echo "Error: Username is in use or invalid. Please select a different username."
echo " "
echo -n "Please enter the users requested username and press [ENTER]: "
read USERNAME
done #USERNAME will be valid from this point
#ASK about the default shell now
echo -n "Enter the new shell if you would like one (currently $SHELL) or leave blank for the default and press [ENTER]: "
read tempSHELL
if [ ${#tempSHELL} -ge 1 ]; then
SHELL="$tempSHELL"
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND ""-s $SHELL"
fi
#ASK about a different primary group
echo "Would you like to enter a non-default primary user group? Defaults to creating a new group that matches the username"
echo "Enter a new Primary Group or leave blank for the default and press [ENTER]: "
read newPrimaryGroup
if [ ${#newPrimaryGroup} -eq 0 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND --user-group"
else
if [ $(grep -c "^${newPrimaryGroup}" /etc/group) -ge 1 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND -g $newPrimaryGroup"
else
echo "Invalid group specified reverting to default!"
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND --user-group"
fi
fi
useradd -m --user-group jaredm2
#ASK about additional groups
echo "Would you like the new user to be a part of any additional groups? Leave blank if no additional groups are needed or enter additional groups in the format of GROUP1,GROUP2,... (NO SPACES) and press [ENTER]: "
read extraGroups
#remove spaces if the user entered any
extraGroups="${extraGroups//[[:space:]]}"
FINALEXTRAGROUPS=""
IFS=","
for g in $extraGroups
do
if [ $(grep -c "^${g}" /etc/group) -ge 1 ]; then
FINALEXTRAGROUPS="$FINALEXTRAGROUPS,$g"
else
echo "$g is invalid user will not be added..."
fi
done
FINALEXTRAGROUPS=$(echo "$FINALEXTRAGROUPS" | tail -c +2)
if [ ${#FINALEXTRAGROUPS} -ge 1 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND -G $FINALEXTRAGROUPS"
fi
#ASK about the home directory
echo "Would you like to enter a new home directory for the user? Leave blank to use the default of $HOME/$USERNAME or enter your own and press [ENTER]: "
read NEWHOME
if [ ${#NEWHOME} -ge 1 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND -d $NEWHOME"
fi
#ADD the username to the command
FINALCOMMAND=`echo "$FINALCOMMAND $USERNAME" | sed 's/ *$//g' | sed 's/^ *//g'`
echo "useradd $FINALCOMMAND"
#PASSCOMMAND="sudo passwd $USERNAME"
#ADD THE USER
`useradd $FINALCOMMAND`
`passwd $USERNAME`
`chfn $USERNAME`
UPDATE: ADDED DEBUG CONTENT
+ '[' 0 -ge 1 ']'
++ sed 's/^ *//g'
++ sed 's/ *$//g'
++ echo '/usr/sbin/useradd -m -U JaredM'
+ FINALCOMMAND='/usr/sbin/useradd -m -U JaredM'
++ '/usr/sbin/useradd -m -U JaredM'
./addnewuser.sh: line 89: /usr/sbin/useradd -m -U JaredM: No such file or directory

Answer 1

By using arrays you could prevent IFS related errors in the command-line and it's a lot cleaner. This one's already tested. I made some clean-ups to the code as well.
#!/bin/bash
#Add a new user
FINALCOMMAND=("-m")
#Import useradd defaults...
. /etc/default/useradd
#Check if running as root
if [ "$(id -u)" != "0" ]; then
echo "This script must be ran as root"
exit 1
fi
#Get the new users Name
#echo -n "Please enter the users First and Last Name and press [ENTER]: "
#read Name
#Get the new users username
echo "The username must be 4-20 characters."
echo -n "Please enter the users requested username and press [ENTER]: "
read USERNAME
while [ $(grep -c "^${USERNAME}:" /etc/passwd) -ge 1 ] || [ ${#USERNAME} -le 3 ] || [ ${#USERNAME} -ge 21 ]; do
echo " "
echo "Error: Username is in use or invalid. Please select a different username."
echo " "
echo -n "Please enter the users requested username and press [ENTER]: "
read USERNAME
done #USERNAME will be valid from this point
#ASK about the default shell now
echo -n "Enter the new shell if you would like one (currently $SHELL) or leave blank for the default and press [ENTER]: "
read tempSHELL
if [ ${#tempSHELL} -ge 1 ]; then
SHELL="$tempSHELL"
FINALCOMMAND=("${FINALCOMMAND[#]}" "-s" "$SHELL")
fi
#ASK about a different primary group
echo "Would you like to enter a non-default primary user group? Defaults to creating a new group that matches the username"
echo -n "Enter a new Primary Group or leave blank for the default and press [ENTER]: "
read newPrimaryGroup
if [ ${#newPrimaryGroup} -eq 0 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND=("${FINALCOMMAND[#]}" "--user-group")
else
if [ $(grep -c "^${newPrimaryGroup}" /etc/group) -ge 1 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND=("${FINALCOMMAND[#]}" "-g" "$newPrimaryGroup")
else
echo "Invalid group specified reverting to default!"
FINALCOMMAND=("${FINALCOMMAND[#]}" "--user-group")
fi
fi
#ASK about additional groups
echo -n "Would you like the new user to be a part of any additional groups? Leave blank if no additional groups are needed or enter additional groups in the format of GROUP1,GROUP2,... (NO SPACES) and press [ENTER]: "
read extraGroups
#remove spaces if the user entered any
extraGroups="${extraGroups//[[:space:]]}"
FINALEXTRAGROUPS=''
IFS=, read -a TEMP <<< "$extraGroups"
for g in "${TEMP[#]}"; do
if [ $(grep -c "^${g}" /etc/group) -ge 1 ]; then
FINALEXTRAGROUPS="$FINALEXTRAGROUPS,$g"
else
echo "$g is invalid user will not be added..."
fi
done
if [ ${#FINALEXTRAGROUPS[#]} -ge 1 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND=("${FINALCOMMAND[#]}" "-G" "${FINALEXTRAGROUPS:1}")
fi
#ASK about the home directory
echo -n "Would you like to enter a new home directory for the user? Leave blank to use the default of $HOME/$USERNAME or enter your own and press [ENTER]: "
read NEWHOME
if [ ${#NEWHOME} -ge 1 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND=("${FINALCOMMAND[#]}" "-d" "$NEWHOME")
fi
#ADD the username to the command
FINALCOMMAND=("${FINALCOMMAND[#]}" "$USERNAME")
#PASSCOMMAND="sudo passwd $USERNAME"
#ADD THE USER
echo "useradd ${FINALCOMMAND[#]}"
useradd "${FINALCOMMAND[#]}"
passwd "$USERNAME"
chfn "$USERNAME"
Note: In newer versions of bash you could just use += to append a value to an array e.g. ARRAY+=("value")
Also by my additional preferences I would improve the code further this way, but that's not the best of it yet:
#!/bin/bash
shopt -s extglob
# Check if running as root.
if [[ "$(id -u)" != 0 ]]; then
echo "This script must be ran as root."
exit 1
fi
# Initialize useradd command variable.
USERADDCOMMAND=("useradd" "-m")
# Import useradd defaults.
. /etc/default/useradd
# Get the new user's name.
#echo -n "Please enter the users First and Last Name and press [ENTER]: "
#read NAME
# Get the new users username.
echo "The username must be 4-20 characters."
while :; do
read -p "Please enter the user's requested username and press [ENTER]: " USERNAME
[[ ${#USERNAME} -ge 4 && ${#USERNAME} -le 20 && $USERNAME == +([[:alpha:]])*([[:alnum:]_-]) ]] || {
echo "Error: Username is invalid. Please enter a different username."
continue
}
[[ $(grep -c "^${USERNAME}:" /etc/passwd) -ge 1 ]] && {
echo "Error: Username is in use. Please enter a different username."
continue
}
break
done
# Ask about the default shell.
read -p "Enter the new shell if you would like one (currently $SHELL) or leave blank for the default and press [ENTER]: " SHELL_
if [[ ${#SHELL_} -ge 1 ]]; then
USERADDCOMMAND=("${USERADDCOMMAND[#]}" "-s" "$SHELL_")
else
# We use this if we really are to use SHELL specified in $SHELL but it still needs further workarounds like checking if $SHELL is valid. Those could be easily done but it depends if this one's really necessary.
#USERADDCOMMAND=("${USERADDCOMMAND[#]}" "-s" "$SHELL")
:
fi
# Ask about a different primary group.
echo "Would you like to enter a non-default primary user group? Defaults to creating a new group that matches the username."
echo -n "Enter a new Primary Group or leave blank for the default and press [ENTER]: "
read NEWPRIMARYGROUP
if [[ ${#NEWPRIMARYGROUP} -eq 0 ]]; then
USERADDCOMMAND=("${USERADDCOMMAND[#]}" "--user-group")
else
if [[ $(grep -c "^${NEWPRIMARYGROUP}" /etc/group) -ge 1 ]]; then
USERADDCOMMAND=("${USERADDCOMMAND[#]}" "-g" "$NEWPRIMARYGROUP")
else
echo "Invalid group specified reverting to default!"
USERADDCOMMAND=("${USERADDCOMMAND[#]}" "--user-group")
fi
fi
# Ask about additional groups.
echo -n "Would you like the new user to be a part of any additional groups? Leave blank if no additional groups are needed or enter additional groups in the format of GROUP1,GROUP2,... (NO SPACES) and press [ENTER]: "
read EXTRAGROUPS
# Remove spaces if the user entered any.
EXTRAGROUPS="${EXTRAGROUPS//[[:space:]]}"
FINALEXTRAGROUPS=''
IFS=, read -a TEMP <<< "$EXTRAGROUPS"
for G in "${TEMP[#]}"; do
if [[ $(grep -c "^${g}" /etc/group) -ge 1 ]]; then
FINALEXTRAGROUPS="$FINALEXTRAGROUPS,$G"
else
echo "$G is an invalid user and will not be added."
fi
done
if [[ ${#FINALEXTRAGROUPS[#]} -ge 1 ]]; then
USERADDCOMMAND=("${USERADDCOMMAND[#]}" "-G" "${FINALEXTRAGROUPS:1}")
fi
# Ask about the home directory
read -p "Would you like to enter a new home directory for the user? Leave blank to use the default of $HOME/$USERNAME or enter your own and press [ENTER]: " NEWHOME
if [[ ${#NEWHOME} -ge 1 ]]; then
USERADDCOMMAND=("${USERADDCOMMAND[#]}" "-d" "$NEWHOME")
fi
# Add the username to the command
USERADDCOMMAND=("${USERADDCOMMAND[#]}" "$USERNAME")
# Add THE USER
echo "> ${USERADDCOMMAND[*]}"
"${USERADDCOMMAND[#]}"
echo "> passwd $USERNAME"
passwd "$USERNAME"
echo "> chfn $USERNAME"
chfn "$USERNAME" # -f "$NAME"

Answer 2

If the man -s8 useradd does not mention --user-group option available to use, then -U will not work. There's still another solution worth trying:
The default behavior (if the -g, -N, and -U options are not specified)
is defined by the USERGROUPS_ENAB variable in /etc/login.defs.
Another way is, you have to chain the useradd command with a groupadd command with the same username supplied as parameters to both the commands.
EDIT:
This must work. First create the group and then create the user and add this new user to the group. Since, you are doing this in a script this should do the job very well.
Do this:
groupadd jaredm2
useradd -m -g jaredm2 jaredm2
Instead of this:
useradd -m --user-group jaredm2
Note that certain other programs which would've been installed in your OS, may have changed your binary or access to it or even created an alias for it. Your which output suggests that it is linked to the useradd binary in bin directory, precisely where it should be.
So I guess:
the binary might have been changed or replaced by a process, by package installers or something else
there's some mismatch between the binary version and the man page version(most likely if you have upgraded your OS improperly, at some point of time)
I think, the only solutions would be using the above pair of commands or changing the useradd binary you are using manually.

Answer 3

The problem is caused by your script you made ​​the use magic quotes `...` to execute your shell commands.
These quotes should only be used if you want to store the return of a command in a variable:
example the instruction below:
FINALCOMMAND=`echo "$FINALCOMMAND $USERNAME" | sed 's/ *$//g' | sed 's/^ *//g'`
Otherwise it is not necessary to use this quote and they can produce bugs like yours.
you can put in your script:
useradd $FINALCOMMAND
passwd $USERNAME
chfn $USERNAME
instead of:
`useradd $FINALCOMMAND`
`passwd $USERNAME`
`chfn $USERNAME`

Answer 4

Judging from your update with debug content, it seems like what you are doing is different from the script you posted.
Anyway, from the debug output, I suspect you're trying to run the adduser command using double quotes
"$FINALCOMMAND"
or maybe enclosed in backticks too, as that seems to be the only situation that triggers the "No such file or directory" error message.
Getting rid of the double quotes should fix the problem.
p/s: Don't use command substitution (``) unless you're actually using the output (e.g. for testing or assigning to variables), or else something like this might happen
$ `echo Just saying hi`
Just: command not found

Answer 5

I fixed the bug in your script, simply remove the line IFS=","
It is a misuse of the environment variable IFS (Internal Field Separator)
The script becomes:
#!/bin/bash
#Add a new user
FINALCOMMAND="-m"
#import useradd defaults...
. /etc/default/useradd
#Check if running as root
if [ "$(id -u)" != "0" ]; then
echo "This script must be ran as root"
exit 1
fi
#Get the new users Name
#echo -n "Please enter the users First and Last Name and press [ENTER]: "
#read Name
#Get the new users username
echo "The username must be 4-20 characters."
echo -n "Please enter the users requested username and press [ENTER]: "
read USERNAME
while [ $(grep -c "^${USERNAME}:" /etc/passwd) -ge 1 ] || [ ${#USERNAME} -le 3 ] || [ ${#USERNAME} -ge 21 ]
do
echo " "
echo "Error: Username is in use or invalid. Please select a different username."
echo " "
echo -n "Please enter the users requested username and press [ENTER]: "
read USERNAME
done #USERNAME will be valid from this point
#ASK about the default shell now
echo -n "Enter the new shell if you would like one (currently $SHELL) or leave blank for the default and press [ENTER]: "
read tempSHELL
if [ ${#tempSHELL} -ge 1 ]; then
SHELL="$tempSHELL"
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND ""-s $SHELL"
fi
#ASK about a different primary group
echo "Would you like to enter a non-default primary user group? Defaults to creating a new group that matches the username"
echo "Enter a new Primary Group or leave blank for the default and press [ENTER]: "
read newPrimaryGroup
if [ ${#newPrimaryGroup} -eq 0 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND --user-group"
else
if [ $(grep -c "^${newPrimaryGroup}" /etc/group) -ge 1 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND -g $newPrimaryGroup"
else
echo "Invalid group specified reverting to default!"
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND --user-group"
fi
fi
#useradd -m --user-group jaredm2
#ASK about additional groups
echo "Would you like the new user to be a part of any additional groups? Leave blank if no additional groups are needed or enter additional groups in the format of GROUP1,GROUP2,... (NO SPACES) and press [ENTER]: "
read extraGroups
#remove spaces if the user entered any
extraGroups="${extraGroups//[[:space:]]}"
FINALEXTRAGROUPS=""
#IFS=","
for g in $extraGroups
do
if [ $(grep -c "^${g}" /etc/group) -ge 1 ]; then
FINALEXTRAGROUPS="$FINALEXTRAGROUPS,$g"
else
echo "$g is invalid user will not be added..."
fi
done
FINALEXTRAGROUPS=$(echo "$FINALEXTRAGROUPS" | tail -c +2)
if [ ${#FINALEXTRAGROUPS} -ge 1 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND -G $FINALEXTRAGROUPS"
fi
#ASK about the home directory
echo "Would you like to enter a new home directory for the user? Leave blank to use the default of $HOME/$USERNAME or enter your own and press [ENTER]: "
read NEWHOME
if [ ${#NEWHOME} -ge 1 ]; then
FINALCOMMAND="$FINALCOMMAND -d $NEWHOME"
fi
#ADD the username to the command
FINALCOMMAND=`echo "$FINALCOMMAND $USERNAME" | sed 's/ *$//g' | sed 's/^ *//g'`
echo "useradd $FINALCOMMAND"
#PASSCOMMAND="sudo passwd $USERNAME"
#ADD THE USER
useradd $FINALCOMMAND
passwd $USERNAME
chfn $USERNAME