The Junos OS software allows you to add, manage, and authenticate users. This article gives the steps to add new users on the EX switching platform via the Command Line Interface (CLI).

The steps listed below describe how to log in with a root account and configure a new user account.

To configure a user account on the switch:

1. Log in to the switch as an existing user or as the default user (root with no password). Enter configuration mode:  

root@switch> configure
[edit]
root@switch# 

The prompt in brackets ([edit]), also known as a banner, shows that you are in configuration edit mode, at the top of the hierarchy.

2. Change to the [edit system login] section of the configuration:    

[edit]
root@host# edit system login
[edit system login]
root@switch#  

The prompt in brackets changes to [edit system login] to show that you are at a new level in the hierarchy.

3. Now add a new user account:

[edit system login]
root@switch# edit user michael  

This example adds an account "michael," but you can use any account name.

4. Configure a full name for the account. If the name includes spaces, enclose the entire name in quotation marks ( " " ): 

[edit system login user michael]
root@switch# set full-name "Michael Mike" 

5. Configure an account class. The account class sets the user access privileges for the account. 

[edit system login user michael]
root@switch# set class super-user

The following access privileges are available for the account:

operator        permissions [ clear network reset trace view ]
read-only       permissions [ view ]
super-user      permissions [ all ]
unauthorized    permissions [ none ]

6. Configure an authentication method and password for the account: 

[edit system login user michael]
root@switch# set authentication plain-text-password
New password:
Retype new password:

When the new password prompt appears, enter a clear-text password that the system will encrypt, and then confirm the new password.

7. Commit the configuration:

[edit system login user michael]
root@switch# commit
commit complete

Configuration changes are not activated until you commit the configuration. If the commit is successful, a commit complete message appears.

8. Return to the top level of the configuration, and then exit:  

[edit system login user michael]
root@switch# top
[edit]
root@switch# exit
Exiting configuration mode

9. Log out of the switch:

root@switch> exit
% logout Connection closed.

10. To test your changes, log back in with the user account and password that you just configured: 

login: michael
Password: <password>
--- JUNOS 9.0-R1.1 built 2008-01-15 22:42:19 UTC
michael@switch>

When you log in, you should see the new username at the command prompt.

2020-02-13: Article reviewed for accuracy; no changes required