Script to Create a New Linux User with SSH Key

The purpose of this page is to help you create a new Linux user. This is sometimes wanted because the default user is too commonly known (example: ubuntu user in AWS). Here are comments about the below script:

New user will have sudo ability
New user sudo will not timeout
New user will have the same bash configuration as your current user
Notice there are three sections - each section can be copied and pasted as one group of commands at a time
Be sure to update all variables before you begin - search on the word "VARIABLE" to make sure you see them all
The below commands assume your local machine is a unix variant (Mac, Linux, etc...)

### SECTION 1 ####

#VARIABLES: set variables for your current system (local)
CHUBOE_CURRENT_SERVER_IP=52.55.90.70
CHUBOE_CURRENT_SERVER_USER=ubuntu
CHUBOE_CURRENT_PEM=chucksteak.pem
CHUBOE_USER=NewUserName #NOTE - change below as well!!

#connect to remote server - this where where you will create the new user and key details
ssh -i ~/.ssh/$CHUBOE_CURRENT_PEM $CHUBOE_CURRENT_SERVER_USER@$CHUBOE_CURRENT_SERVER_IP

#### SECTION 2 ####

#VARIABLES: for the remote server
CHUBOE_USER=NewUserName

#create keys in /tmp directory
#skip this step if keys have already been created. Just copy the existing $CHUBOE_USER.pub to the /tmp/ directory
cd /tmp/
sudo ssh-keygen -f $CHUBOE_USER -N ''
sudo mv $CHUBOE_USER $CHUBOE_USER.pem

#make your current user the owner of these files so you can download .pem later via scp
sudo chown $USER:$USER /tmp/$CHUBOE_USER*

#create $CHUBOE_USER user and give it sudo ability without password
sudo useradd -m $CHUBOE_USER
sudo usermod -aG sudo $CHUBOE_USER
sudo echo "$CHUBOE_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" | sudo tee -a /etc/sudoers

#copy over current .bashrc to the newly created user
sudo rm /home/$CHUBOE_USER/.bashrc
cat ~/.bashrc | sudo -u $CHUBOE_USER tee /home/$CHUBOE_USER/.bashrc
sudo chsh $CHUBOE_USER -s /bin/bash

#create .ssh folder and move files
sudo -u $CHUBOE_USER mkdir /home/$CHUBOE_USER/.ssh
sudo chmod 700 /home/$CHUBOE_USER/.ssh
sudo -u $CHUBOE_USER cat /tmp/$CHUBOE_USER.pub | sudo tee --append /home/$CHUBOE_USER/.ssh/authorized_keys
sudo chmod 600 /home/$CHUBOE_USER/.ssh/authorized_keys
sudo chown $CHUBOE_USER:$CHUBOE_USER /home/$CHUBOE_USER/.ssh/authorized_keys

# remember to remove key data from /tmp after you download it in the below script.
# sudo rm /tmp/$CHUBOE_USER*

#exit back to your local linux machine
exit

#### SECTION 3 ####

#copy remote $CHUBOE_USER.pem to your local machine
#the below statement assume your remote server's user is named 'ubuntu'
scp -i ~/.ssh/$CHUBOE_CURRENT_PEM ubuntu@$CHUBOE_CURRENT_SERVER_IP:/tmp/$CHUBOE_USER.pem ~/.ssh/.
chmod 400 ~/.ssh/$CHUBOE_USER.pem

#download the $CHUBOE_USER.pub just in case you want to use it in another server
scp -i ~/.ssh/$CHUBOE_CURRENT_PEM ubuntu@$CHUBOE_CURRENT_SERVER_IP:/tmp/$CHUBOE_USER.pub ~/Downloads/.

#connect to your remote server with your newly generated key
ssh -i ~/.ssh/$CHUBOE_USER.pem $CHUBOE_USER@$CHUBOE_CURRENT_SERVER_IP

echo "You are now connected as your new user on your remote machine"