[Chapter 22] 22.22 The su Command Isn't Just for the Superuser
Author: Jerry Peek, Tim O'Reilly & Mike Loukides
Date: 1998-08-04T21:40:45Z

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| Chapter 22 File Security, Ownership, and Sharing |

## 22.22 The su Command Isn't Just for the Superuser

System administrators use the su command to become the superuser (1.24). But you can use it for lots more:

- Become another user temporarily, without logging off your account.

- Become another user without tying up another terminal port.

- Switch between multiple users any time (on systems with job control).

- Do a "quick login" to another user's account, especially when the system is busy.

When you type:

>     youraccount% su whoever
>     Password:
>     whoever%

UNIX starts a subshell (38.4) that runs as the user `whoever`. After you use the cd command to go to the user's home directory, you can run commands as if you'd logged into that account (more or less... see below).

### 22.22.1 Ending or Suspending

End the subshell and go back to the account where you typed `su` with the exit (38.4) command or a CTRL-d.

Or, on systems with job control (12.8), you can stop the subshell temporarily and go back to the account where you started the su. To do that, type `suspend` if `whoever`'s shell has job control (most shells do); otherwise, enter CTRL-z at the shell prompt.

> NOTE: If the su subshell doesn't have job control but your starting shell does, entering CTRL-z to any command you run from the subshell will stop the command and the subshell.

You can use suspend to start multiple su sessions from the same shell. You can go back to your original login, from any of those sessions, without losing your shell history, current directory, etc. Because these shells run on the same tty (3.8) as your login shell, su doesn't tie up other tty/pty ports like multiple logins or multiple windows can. This is helpful on busy machines with lots of users.

On any UNIX system, you can type `exit` (or use CTRL-d) to go back to the original login. But on systems with job control, you can su to several other users and jump back to your original login at any time. Job control lets you suspend an su and go back to the place you left off without typing another su (and password). Many shells have a suspend command that lets you do that. On other shells, you may be able to enter CTRL-z (your job suspend character) or make a command alias (10.4) to stop the current shell:

    kill $$
    alias suspend='kill -STOP $$'

Here's a demo. I'm logged in to the account jerry on the computer wheeze. I've sued to the superuser, sarah, and manuals accounts, too. I'm using job control to switch users:

>     jerry@wheeze% jobs
>     [1]    Stopped      su
>     [2] -  Stopped      su sarah
>     [3] +  Stopped      su manuals
>     jerry@wheeze% fg
>     su manuals
>        ...Do stuff as manuals...
>     manuals@wheeze% suspend
>     Stopped
>     jerry@wheeze% fg %1
>     su
>     wheeze#
>        ...Do stuff as root...
>     wheeze# suspend
>     Stopped
>     jerry@wheeze%

I use that so much that I've made a single-letter alias (10.2) named z that does a suspend.

### 22.22.2 Who Are You Now?

whoami id | It's easier to jump between accounts if the shells' prompts (7.1) have the username in them, as shown above. If not, use the command whoami or id to see which user you are. Your system should have one or both; both GNU versions are on the CD-ROM. Also, to see your original login name (the account where you started the su), try `who am i` (with spaces).

### 22.22.3 Problems You Might Have

Some System V versions don't change the environment variable HOME (LOGDIR) (14.11) to the right value for the account you su to. That means a cd command will take you to the home directory of your original login, not the home directory of your sued account. Also, a C shell you start on the other account won't read your .cshrc file. The best fix for that is a shell script named su that sets the variable for you. The script is run by the C shell `:-(` (47.2) because csh has the `~` (tilde) operator (14.11) for finding the account's home directory. Add this script to a directory before /bin in your path (8.7) or make an alias or shell function that runs the script instead of the standard su.

    x !~

    exec :q
    #!/bin/csh -f
    # su - fix incorrect $HOME and USER with system 'su' command
    foreach arg ($argv)
       # find first non-option argument
       if ("x$arg" !~ x-*) then
          setenv HOME ~$arg
          setenv USER $arg
          exec /bin/su $argv:q
       endif
    end
    echo "$0 ERROR: can't find username."
    exit 1

Another workaround for that is an alias with the name of the account I'm suing to:

    (..)
    alias randi '(setenv HOME ~randi; setenv USER randi; su randi)'

There's another problem that can happen on any version of UNIX: the account you su to doesn't have permission (22.2) to access the current directory where you ran the su command. Then, you may get an error like `getwd: can't stat .` from the C shell on the account you su to. Or you may get no error but the su will fail. The fix for both problems is to cd to a world-access directory like / or /tmp before you run su. An alias can make that easy:

    \su
    alias su '(cd /; \su \!*)'

You can also add the `cd /` command to this shell script if you want.

If the account you su to runs the C shell (and you don't use the -f option--see below), it will read the .cshrc file. If that .cshrc has hardcoded pathnames or commands that only the other account can run, the commands might fail. That can cause a variety of "fun" problems. Try replacing hardcoded pathnames like `/home/``oldacct``/bin` with paths that use account-specific variables like `$home/bin`, `~/bin`, and so on.

Plain `su` `whoever` doesn't read a C shell user's .login file or a Bourne shell user's .profile. Using `su -` `whoever` (see the section "Other su Features" at the end of this chapter) solves that, but you can't suspend an su - shell (at least not on my systems).

Finally, because the su command runs in a subshell (38.4), environment variables (6.1) set in the account you su from will be passed into the subshell. That can be good or bad. For instance, your favorite EDITOR (6.3) (vi, Emacs, or whatever) can be passed to the account you su to. But that account might also set a variable that you want to use. If you're wondering what's set after you su, type `set` for a list of shell variables, and either env or printenv (6.1) to see environment variables.

### 22.22.4 Quick Changes to Other Accounts

If your system is busy, it can take time to run through all the commands in the other user's .cshrc file. The su command can pass arguments to the subshell it starts, though. If the other account uses C shell, the -f option tells it not to read the .cshrc file (for example, `su -f` `whoever`). You won't get that account's .cshrc setup, but you will start to work on it sooner.

If logging in on your system takes a long time and you want to switch to another account permanently, you can exec (45.7) the su command:

>     % exec su whoever

That makes a weird situation where the who (51.4) command will show you logged on as your original account, but you'll be running as `whoever` (the whoami or id command will tell you that). Also, because the su shell isn't a login shell (2.8), the logout command won't work; you'll need to type `exit` instead. So, exec su is a little tricky-but it's fast.

### 22.22.5 Other su Features

The command su -e, which may also be called su -m or su -p, switches to the other user's account but keeps the environment you have now. That's handy when you're having trouble with the other user's environment or want to keep your own. (Some sus do -m by default, more or less. Use env or printenv (6.1) to see what you get.)

The command su - simulates a full login to the other account. If the other account runs the Bourne shell, the .profile will be read. For the C shell, both .cshrc and .login will be read. You can't suspend a su - subshell. When you log out though, you'll be back in your original account's shell.

- JP

22.21 How to Change File Ownership Without chown |  | 23. Removing Files