Temporary Users

Creating users with expiration dates for time-limited access

Temporary Users

Scenario: Contractor Access with Expiration

Company: xFusionCorp Industries
Task: Create temporary access for contractor with automatic expiration

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🧠 Understanding Account Expiration

Temporary users need automatic expiration to maintain security. Linux provides built-in account expiration.

When to Use Expiring Accounts

• Contractors: Time-limited project access
• Interns: Fixed-term employment
• Emergency Access: Temporary break-glass accounts
• Trials: Free trial periods

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🛠️ Implementation

Create User with Expiration

# Create user with expiration date (30 days from now)
useradd -e 2026-02-28 contractor1

# Verify expiration
chage -l contractor1
# Expected: Account expires: Feb 28, 2026

Set Password Expiration Too

# Force password change on first login
passwd -e contractor1

# Or set max days between password changes
chage -M 30 contractor1

Common Expiration Options

Option	Purpose
-e YYYY-MM-DD	Account expiration date
-f DAYS	Days after password expiry until lockout
-M DAYS	Maximum password validity

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✅ Verification

• User created with expiration date
• Account expires on correct date
• Login works before expiration
• Account locked after expiration

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🎯 Key Learnings

• Automatic access revocation
• Account lifecycle management
• Security compliance

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✅ Status

COMPLETED 🎉

• Date: 2026-01-29

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