LPIC-1 Administrative Tasks Practice Question
After creating a new user with 'useradd john', the user 'john' cannot log in. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume `useradd` fully provisions an account, overlooking that password assignment is a separate mandatory step, and they may confuse login failure with missing home directory or shell issues.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
No password has been set for the user
The `useradd` command creates a new user account but does not set a password. Without a password, the system's authentication mechanism (typically PAM) will deny login attempts, as there is no valid password hash in `/etc/shadow`. The user must have a password assigned via `passwd john` before they can authenticate.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The home directory does not exist
Why it's wrong here
By default, 'useradd' creates the home directory unless told otherwise.
- ✓
No password has been set for the user
Why this is correct
The 'useradd' command creates the account but does not assign a password; the account is locked initially.
- ✗
The user's shell is not set
Why it's wrong here
By default, 'useradd' assigns the shell specified in /etc/default/useradd, typically /bin/bash.
- ✗
The user is not in the sudoers file
Why it's wrong here
Being in sudoers is for sudo access, not basic login.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This LPIC-1 practice question is part of Courseiva's free LPI certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the LPIC-1 exam.