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Chapter 1-6: User and Security Management

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Chapter 1-6: User and Security Management

User and security management is crucial in maintaining a secure, well-managed operating system. Whether it's creating users, viewing system information, or managing system services, both Linux and Windows provide powerful CLI tools to help administrators maintain control and monitor system performance.

17. Manage Users

🎯 Purpose

To create, modify, or delete user accounts and manage their privileges. This is an essential task for maintaining system security and managing access.

💻 Windows

net user username /add

🧾 Sample Output

The command completed successfully.
📝 Note:
This command creates a new user account named username. You can add more parameters to set a password or specify the user’s group.

🐧 Linux

sudo useradd username
sudo passwd username

🧾 Sample Output

Changing password for user username.
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully
⚠️ Alert:
On Linux, after creating a new user, you'll need to set their password. If you forget the password, you might need to use sudo to reset it.

18. View Hardware Information

🎯 Purpose

To gather detailed information about the system's hardware components, including CPU, memory, and storage.

💻 Windows

msinfo32

🧾 Sample Output

System Summary
--------------
Host Name:                 DESKTOP-ABC123
OS Name:                   Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
OS Version:                10.0.19042 Build 19042
Processor:                 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9700K CPU @ 3.60GHz
RAM:                       16 GB
Storage:                   500 GB SSD
📝 Note:
The msinfo32 command opens the System Information window, showing details about your hardware, system configuration, and resources.

🐧 Linux

lshw

🧾 Sample Output

description: Desktop Computer
product: Desktop
vendor: ASUS
version: 1.0
serial: 1234567890
cpu:
  architecture: x86_64
  cores: 4
  model name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9700K CPU @ 3.60GHz
  ...
⚠️ Alert:
lshw may not be installed by default on all Linux distributions. You may need to install it first with sudo apt install lshw or sudo yum install lshw depending on your distribution.

19. Manage Services

🎯 Purpose

To start, stop, or check the status of services running on your system, essential for maintaining system processes.

💻 Windows

services.msc

🧾 Sample Output

(Services window opens with a list of system services)
📝 Note:
The services.msc command opens the Services Management Console, allowing you to view and manage Windows services directly.

🐧 Linux

systemctl status

🧾 Sample Output

● apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Thu 2025-04-23 14:00:00 UTC; 1 day ago
⚠️ Alert:
You can use systemctl stop or systemctl start to stop or start services, respectively. Make sure you have the necessary permissions (typically sudo).

20. Check System Performance

🎯 Purpose

To monitor and analyze system performance, including memory usage, CPU load, and disk activity.

💻 Windows

perfmon

🧾 Sample Output

(Performance Monitor opens with graphs and metrics)
📝 Note:
The perfmon command opens the Performance Monitor application, allowing you to track system performance metrics like CPU usage, disk activity, and memory consumption.

🐧 Linux

vmstat

🧾 Sample Output

procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- --system-- ----cpu----
 r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si  so   bi   bo   in   cs us sy id wa st
 0  0      0  15844  10812  22432    0   0    0    3  1184  145  1  0 98  1  0
⚠️ Alert:
Use the vmstat command for a quick overview of system performance. For more detailed metrics, consider using top or htop.

✅ Coming Up Next

This concludes Chapter 1 series on comparing Windows and Linux CLI commands. I hope you found the comparison helpful and that you're now more comfortable navigating the command line in both systems.

Stay tuned for more in-depth topics on Linux architecture, advanced Linux usage and system administration.