User management

Edit online

During PowerVC installation, several internal users and groups are created automatically. These users who are created automatically operate within a restricted shell environment. The restricted shell environment limits the access to the commands that are necessary for their respective roles.

Users created during PowerVC installation

The following users are created during the PowerVC installation:

Table 1.
User	Role	Description
`pvcroot`	Super-admin	The `pvcroot` user acts as a root-equivalent user. The `pvcroot` user has full access, including access to perform disruptive operations within PowerVC.
`pvcscpe`	PESH user	The `pvcscpe` user is a product engineering shell (PESH) user. This user can break out of the restricted shell and obtain full root access. This user is used for PowerVC support.

Groups created during PowerVC installation

The following groups are created during the PowerVC installation:

Table 2.
Group purpose	Group name	Associated user or users	Description
Appliance user group	`pvcoperator`	Any user belonging to the `pvcoperator` group.	The `pvcoperator` group user is responsible for upgrades and patching. You can perform daily operations but cannot perform disruptive actions, such as, deleting or uninstalling.
Super-admin group	`pvcsuperadmin`	Any user belonging to the `pvcsuperadmin` group.	The `pvcsuperadmin` group user is responsible for upgrades and patching.
Viewer group	`pvcviewer`	Any user belonging to the `pvcviewer` group.	The `pvcviewer` group user is a read-only user. You can view PowerVC information but cannot modify system settings or configurations.
PESH (engineering) group	`pvcviewer`	PESH user (`pvcscpe`)	The `pvcscpe` user is a product engineering shell (PESH) user. This user can break out of the restricted shell and obtain full root access. This user is used for PowerVC support.

Notes:

The pvcroot user is mandatory and cannot be removed or modified. Multiple components rely on pvcroot across the OS, filesystem, CLI, and identity‑service layers to enforce privileges, manage file access, and ensure consistent role and identity mappings.
The pvcroot and pvcscpe users are part of the ISO image and are created automatically. However, you must create the pvcoperator and pvcviewer user.
The restricted shell environment ensures that each user role operates within defined privileges.
The PESH user (pvcscpe) is intended strictly for internal diagnostics or engineering support and must not be used in normal operations.
To create or modify user permission, use commands like mkpvcuser, chpvcuser, and rmpvcuser command.