How to switch user in terminal
You should use su
:
su [-|-l|--login] USERNAME
If you specify the login option (either -
, or -l
, or --login
: all are synonyms), you will get an environment similar to if you directly logged in as that user. Otherwise you stay in the current environment (e.g. many env
variables, the current directory, etc).
Example: (note the usernames and current working directories!)
root@wolf-pack:~# su bytecommander
bytecommander@wolf-pack:/root$ exit
exit
root@wolf-pack:~# su - bytecommander
bytecommander@wolf-pack:~$ exit
logout
root@wolf-pack:~#
PS: If you run su
not as root, you will of course be prompted for the password of the user as who you want to log in.