Switching Users in Linux
Like any operating system, Linux can have multiple user accounts. Sometimes we may need to use a different user account to access files or run commands that require permissions as root.
This article explains how to switch between different users.
suUse command to switch users
in Linux
suThe command allows you to log in to another user account whose password you know. If used without parameters, the root user is selected by default. You can whoamiview the current user with the command.
To switch to a specific user account, type the username after the command. Use the -p -(or -p -l, -p --login) parameter to clear the current user's environment variables and log in with the new user's variables.
su - user
Output:
Use the -cor --commandparameters to run the command as a different user account.
su --command=whoami - user
Output:
Use the -sor --shellarguments to switch to a different shell than the current one.
su --shell=/bin/sh - user
Output:
In Linux, use sudoRun command as root
sudocommand allows to execute commands with the privileges of a different user (usually the superuser), instead of switching the current user account.
For example, only the root user can update the packages installed on the system. apt-get updateCommand updates the Ubuntu operating system.
If you are not a root user, this command will fail. You must use the following command.
sudo apt-get update
Output:
It is safer to use sudothe command instead of using suthe command to switch to the root account.
This way, permissions will only apply to apt-get updatecommands. This prevents unintentional users from forgetting to log out of the root account and using harmful commands.
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