%general-entities; ]> When logged in as user root, making a single mistake can damage or destroy a system. Therefore, the packages in the next two chapters are built as an unprivileged user. You could use your own user name, but to make it easier to set up a clean working environment, we will create a new user called lfs as a member of a new group (also named lfs) and run commands as &lfs-user; during the installation process. As root, issue the following commands to add the new user: groupadd lfs useradd -s /bin/bash -g lfs -m -k /dev/null lfs -s /bin/bash This makes bash the default shell for user lfs. -g lfs This option adds user lfs to group lfs. -m This creates a home directory for lfs. -k /dev/null This parameter prevents possible copying of files from a skeleton directory (the default is /etc/skel) by changing the input location to the special null device. lfs This is the actual name for the created user. If you want to log in as &lfs-user; or switch to &lfs-user; from a non-&root; user (as opposed to switching to user &lfs-user; when logged in as &root;, which does not require the &lfs-user; user to have a password), you need to set a password of &lfs-user;. Issue the following command as the &root; user to set the password: passwd lfs Grant lfs full access to all the directories under $LFS by making lfs the owner: chown -v lfs $LFS/{usr{,/*},lib*,boot,var,etc,bin,sbin,tools} In some host systems, the following su command does not complete properly and suspends the login for the &lfs-user; user to the background. If the prompt "lfs:~$" does not appear immediately, entering the fg command will fix the issue. Next, start a shell running as user &lfs-user;. This can be done by logging in as &lfs-user; on a virtual console, or with the following substitute/switch user command: su - lfs The - instructs su to start a login shell as opposed to a non-login shell. The difference between these two types of shells is described in detail in bash(1) and info bash.