title: Account Creation Errors created at: Thu Oct 24 2024 12:30:36 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) updated at: Sat Feb 08 2025 14:22:44 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) --- # Account Creation Errors # Overview This document contains common account creation errors and the steps to troubleshoot them. !! Note: !! For more information about account creation, read our [Create a New Account](https://docs.cpanel.net/whm/account-functions/create-a-new-account/) documentation. # groupadd and useradd errors You may receive this error for several reasons: ## Immutable files If the `/etc/passwd` or `/etc/group` files contain the immutable flag, the system **cannot** edit them and therefore **cannot** add the account to your server. To check these files, run the following commands: ```bash lsattr /etc/group lsattr /etc/shadow ``` If these files contain the immutable flag, they will return `i` in these commands’ output. To remove this flag, run the following commands: ```bash chattr -i /etc/passwd chattr -i /etc/group ``` ## Corrupt group shadow file If the `/etc/gshadow` file becomes corrupt, the system **cannot** correctly add the account to your server. For each group in the `/etc/groups` file, the `/etc/gshadow` file should include a line in the `groupname:::` format, where `groupname` represents the group name. Any `/etc/gshadow` file that does **not** include these lines is corrupt. To rebuild corrupt files, perform the following steps: 1. To move the existing `/etc/gshadow` file, run the following command: ```bash mv /etc/gshadow /etc/gshadow.corrupt ``` 1. To rebuild the file, run the `grpconv` command. 2. If they exist, delete the `/etc/grshadow.lock` and `/etc/group.lock` files. # unable to add user errors If the system returns an `unable to add the user` error, the user may already exist in your system. To check whether the user already exists, perform either of the following steps: * Attempt to navigate to the `/home/username` directory, where `username` represents the account username. * Check the contents of the `/etc/passwd` directory for an entry for that user.