Configuring user profiles

Question

How do I configure a user account so the he has access to only one directory and can only read the files in that directory. In other words when he logs in he should automatically be dumped into the specified directory and not have the permissions to move to another directory.

Answer 1

You might to consider assigning them a restricted shell
sh -r or
bash -r
or
rbash
from the bash man page ( RESTRICTED SHELL )
the following are disallowed or not performed:
o changing directories with cd
o setting or unsetting the values of SHELL, PATH, ENV, or
BASH_ENV
o specifying command names containing /
o specifying a file name containing a / as an argument to
the . builtin command
o importing function definitions from the shell environ-
ment at startup
o parsing the value of SHELLOPTS from the shell environ-
ment at startup
o redirecting output using the >, >|, <>, >&, &>, and >>
redirection operators
o using the exec builtin command to replace the shell
with another command
o adding or deleting builtin commands with the -f and -d
options to the enable builtin command
o specifying the -p option to the command builtin command
o turning off restricted mode with set r or set o restricted.
Hope this is what you are after