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To change a user’s first short name, create a new account for the user in the same directory domain that contains the new first short name and retain all other account information (user ID, primary group, home folder, and so on). Make sure you use the same GUID for the new account. Then disable the login for the old user account.
After you disable the old login, the user can log in using the changed name but will have the same access to files and other network resources as before and will belong to the same groups.
For more information, see “Working with GUIDs” on page 87, and “Disabling a User Account” on page 60.
Avoiding Duplicate Names
A user’s short name is used by the login window. This means that having multiple users with the same short name causes a conflict. Although you can’t create multiple users with the same short name in the Basic pane of Workgroup Manager, it’s still possible to create multiple users with the same short name when you use
If multiple user accounts have the same long user name on a Mac OS X computer, the login window displays a list of users to choose from.
If two users have the same first short user name, the login window only recognizes and authenticates the first matching user account it finds in the sequence of directory domains specified by the computer’s search policy, as set in Directory Utility.
If a local user and a network user have the same first short user name, the local user always takes precedence, preventing the network user from logging in to the computer.
In groups created using Mac OS X versions earlier than 10.4, group membership is determined by the user’s first short name and group ID (GID). If multiple users have the same first short name, then they have the same group memberships.
Groups created using Mac OS X Server v10.4 or later determine group membership using a GUID and a combination of the user’s short name and GID. For information about GUIDs, see “Working with GUIDs” on page 87.
If you don’t upgrade legacy groups, the groups still determine membership by only the user’s first short name and GID. For instructions on upgrading legacy groups, see “Upgrading Legacy Groups” on page 94.
To ensure that users have the correct legacy group membership, do not use duplicate user short names.
Chapter 4 Setting Up User Accounts
