How to find the number of user accounts via shell ?

Issue :

There is no control panel installed on the server. So, how can the total number of user accounts on the system be determined?

Solution:

Use the following command to find the total number of accounts on the system :

cat /etc/passwd | wc -l

Note : This will also include system accounts like root, mail etc.

To list all the accounts on the system then use the following :

cat /etc/passwd | cut -d”:” -f1