How to create a Linux user without a password but being able to set it?

Posted by Leonid Shevtsov on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by Leonid Shevtsov
Published on 2012-09-01T23:04:59Z Indexed on 2012/09/02 3:39 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 575

Filed under:

linux

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ubuntu

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ssh

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debian

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authentication

I have a username and an SSH key for a (hypothetical) guy and I need to give him admin access to a Linux (Ubuntu) server.

I want him to be able to log in via SSH and then set his password by himself over a secure connection, instead of passing the password around.

I know how to make the password expire and force him to reset it on first login. But this doesn't work unless he has some password already, which I then have to tell him.

I thought about making the password blank - SSH wouldn't allow login, but then anyone can su into the user.

My question is, is there some best practice to creating accounts in such a way? Or setting a default password is unavoidable?

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