ansiblings/packages/cubes-core/cubes/user/add

user-add

Add a user with Fish shell and tools

Purpose

This cube creates a new user account with a modern shell environment (Fish), SSH key authentication, and enhanced productivity tools pre-configured.

What This Cube Does

1. Creates a new user account

   • Sets up home directory with proper permissions
   • Configures password authentication
   • Adds user to specified groups (e.g., docker, sudo)
   • Sets Fish as the default login shell

2. Configures SSH access

   • Deploys the specified SSH public key for passwordless authentication
   • Creates .ssh directory with proper permissions
   • Sets up SSH config file
   • Configures SSH agent auto-loading for Fish shell

3. Installs Fish shell enhancements

   • Installs Oh My Fish (OMF) - Fish shell framework with themes and plugins
   • Deploys custom Fish configuration (config.fish)
   • Sets up Fish rc directory for modular configurations

4. Creates workspace directories

   • Creates /home/{USER}/tmp directory for temporary files

Configuration

Parameters

• USER (string, auto-generated)

  • Username for the new user account
  • Default: userXXXXX (randomly generated 5-character suffix)

• PASSWORD (string, secret)

  • Password for the new user account
  • Default: the literal changeme — a placeholder, not a credential. Change it on first login, or pass a real one.
  • Declared in the manifest's secrets, so it is never written to a session or history file and is masked in printed commands. A replay asks for it again.
  • It used to default to a randomly generated password. That was removed: since the value is not recorded, an unattended run created an account with a credential nobody had seen, and replaying that run produced a different one.

• GROUPS (string, default: '')

  • Comma-separated list of additional groups (e.g., "docker,sudo")
  • Common groups:
    • docker - Run Docker without sudo
    • sudo - Administrative privileges
    • www-data - Web server file access

• PUBKEY (string, required — no default)

  • SSH public key to authorize for the user
  • Should be your public key for passwordless SSH access
  • There is deliberately no default. It used to be a specific personal key, so accepting the default authorized someone else's key on the new account. No key would be a sensible guess, so the cube asks instead.
  • Because it is required, --use-defaults refuses to run this cube unless PUBKEY comes from env in .nopyrc.json, a dependency, or a hook.
  • Submitting an empty value at the prompt authorizes no key at all (the account is still created, with password login only).

Dependencies

• apt:essentials - Provides Fish shell and basic tools

What is Fish?

Fish (Friendly Interactive Shell) is a modern command-line shell that focuses on usability:

• Smart autosuggestions: Suggests commands as you type based on history
• Syntax highlighting: Color-codes commands in real-time
• Tab completions: Comprehensive, discoverable command completions
• No configuration needed: Works great out of the box

Post-Installation

After deployment:

• SSH into the server as the new user: ssh {USER}@server
• Your SSH key will be pre-authorized (no password needed if using key)
• Fish shell will start automatically with OMF installed
• SSH agent auto-loads to manage your SSH keys

Notes

• The user's home directory is created at /home/{USER}
• Fish configuration is stored in /home/{USER}/.config/fish/
• Oh My Fish provides package management: omf install <package>
• To switch shells: chsh -s /bin/bash (or back to fish: chsh -s /usr/bin/fish)

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📌 Most Useful Fish Key Bindings (with Fisher Extensions)

🐟 Default Fish Key Bindings

• Ctrl + C → Cancel the current command
• Ctrl + D → Exit the shell (or logout if in SSH)
• Ctrl + L → Clear the terminal
• Ctrl + R → Search command history (enhanced by fzf.fish)
• Ctrl + U → Delete the entire command line
• Ctrl + W → Delete the last word
• Alt + ← / → → Move backward/forward by a word

🔍 Enhanced with fzf.fish

• Ctrl + R → Fuzzy search command history
• Ctrl + T → Fuzzy search and insert file path
• Alt + C → Fuzzy search directories (cd with z)

📂 Directory Navigation (with z)

• z <dir> → Jump to a frequently used directory
• z -l → List most-used directories
• z -c → Remove a directory from z's database

🔄 Process & Job Management

• Ctrl + Z → Suspend the current process
• fg → Bring a suspended process back to foreground
• jobs → List background jobs

🎨 Other Handy Shortcuts

• fish_vi_key_bindings → Enable Vi mode (press Esc for normal mode)
• Ctrl + G → Show Git status (if using fzf.fish)
• Ctrl + E → Edit command line in $EDITOR

⚙️ Useful Commands for Key Binding

# Set Fish default key bindings
fish_default_key_bindings

# Enable Vi mode
fish_vi_key_bindings

# Rebind a custom key (Example: Ctrl + G for git status)
bind \cg 'git status'