{"id":59113,"date":"2023-12-07T15:01:43","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T07:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=59113"},"modified":"2023-12-07T00:01:03","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T16:01:03","slug":"linux-command-su","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/linux-command-su\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use the SU Command in Linux"},"content":{"rendered":"

The su<\/code> command is often used in conjunction with other commands like sudo<\/code> for temporary elevated access, passwd<\/code> for changing passwords, and whoami to check which user you\u2019re currently logged in as. Understanding su<\/code> is crucial for system administration tasks and for users who need to operate in a multi-user environment.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s get started and learn how to effectively use the su<\/code> command to switch user accounts and elevate permissions.<\/p>\n

General syntax for su<\/code> command:<\/p>\n\n

\r\n$ su [OPTIONS] [USER [ARGUMENT...]]\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
1. Login with a different user account<\/h3>\n
su [username]<\/pre>\n
Pass the username to the su<\/code> command, and it will provide a login session when the password has been verified.<\/p>\n
Example 1: Switching to Root User<\/strong><\/p>\n
If you run su<\/code> without any username, it defaults to the root user. You\u2019ll be prompted to enter the root password.<\/p>\n
$ su\r\nPassword: [Enter root password here]\r\n# [You are now in a shell as the root user]<\/pre>\n
Example 2: Switching to a Specific User<\/strong><\/p>\n
To switch to a specific user, you can specify the username as an argument. For example, to switch to a user named john<\/code>, you would do:<\/p>\n
$ su john\r\nPassword: [Enter john's password here]\r\n$ [You are now in a shell as john]<\/pre>\n
Example 3: Running a Command as Another User<\/strong><\/p>\n
You can also run a single command as another user without entering their shell. For example, to run whoami<\/code> as john<\/code>:<\/p>\n
$ su -c \"whoami\" john\r\nPassword: [Enter john's password here]\r\njohn<\/pre>\n
\n
2. Login with a different user account + run a command<\/h3>\n
su [username] -c [command]<\/pre>\n
The -c<\/code> option allows you to run a particular command under a different user account and display the results in the current login session.<\/p>\n
Example 1: Running a Command as Root<\/strong><\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you want to run the ls \/root<\/code> command to list the contents of the \/root<\/code> directory, which is usually only accessible by the root user. You can use:<\/p>\n
su root -c \"ls \/root\"<\/pre>\n
After executing this command, you\u2019ll be prompted to enter the root password. Once authenticated, the ls \/root<\/code> command will be executed, and you\u2019ll see the contents of the \/root<\/code> directory.<\/p>\n
Example 2: Running a Command as Another User<\/strong><\/p>\n
Suppose you have another user on your system named john<\/code>, and you want to run a Python script located at \/home\/john\/script.py<\/code> as that user. You can use:<\/p>\n
su john -c \"python3 \/home\/john\/script.py\"<\/pre>\n
Again, you\u2019ll be prompted to enter the password for the john<\/code> account. Once authenticated, the Python script will be executed as john<\/code>.<\/p>\n
Example 3: Running Multiple Commands<\/strong><\/p>\n
You can also run multiple commands in sequence. For example, to change to a directory and then list its contents as user john<\/code>, you can do:<\/p>\n
su john -c \"cd \/home\/john\/documents && ls\"<\/pre>\n
This will switch to the john<\/code> user, navigate to \/home\/john\/documents<\/code>, and then list the contents of that directory.<\/p>\n
\n
3. Specify the shell<\/h3>\n
su -s \/bin\/[shell]<\/pre>\n
Use the -s<\/code> option to change an existing default shell to a different one.<\/p>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you are currently logged in as the user john<\/code>, and you want to switch to the user alice<\/code> using the bash<\/code> shell. You would execute the following command:<\/p>\n
su -s \/bin\/bash alice<\/pre>\n
After running this command, you\u2019ll be prompted to enter the password for alice<\/code>. If the password is correct, you\u2019ll be switched to alice\u2019s user account and the shell will be bash<\/code>.<\/p>\n
\n
4. Preserve user account environment<\/h3>\n
su \u2013p [another_user]<\/pre>\n
The -p<\/code> option allows you to keep the environment of the current user account.<\/p>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you are currently logged in as the user john<\/code>, and you want to switch to the user alice<\/code> but preserve john\u2019s environment variables.<\/p>\n
By typing in the following command:<\/p>\n
su -p alice<\/pre>\n
You will be prompted to enter the password for alice<\/code>.<\/p>\n
After successfully entering the password, you will be switched to the user alice<\/code>, but your environment will still contain the settings from john<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\n
More Linux commands:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Directory Operations<\/td>\nrmdir<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 cd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 pwd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 exa<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 ls<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
File Operations<\/td>\ncat<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 cp<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 dd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 less<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 touch<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 ln<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 rename<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 more<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 head<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
File System Operations<\/td>\nchown<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 mkfs<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 locate<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Networking<\/td>\nping<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 curl<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 wget<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 iptables<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 mtr<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Search and Text Processing<\/td>\nfind<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 grep<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 sed<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 whatis<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 ripgrep<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 fd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 tldr<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
System Information and Management<\/td>\nenv<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 history<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 top<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 who<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 htop<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 glances<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 lsof<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
User and Session Management<\/td>\nscreen<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 su<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 sudo<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 open<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The su command is often used in conjunction with other commands like sudo for temporary elevated access, passwd for changing passwords, and whoami to check which user you\u2019re currently logged in as. Understanding su is crucial for system administration tasks and for users who need to operate in a multi-user environment. So, let\u2019s get started…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3397],"tags":[888,3316],"topic":[],"class_list":["entry-content","is-maxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Use the SU Command in Linux - Hongkiat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The su command is often used in conjunction with other commands like sudo for temporary elevated access, passwd for changing passwords, and whoami to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/linux-command-su\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Use the SU Command in Linux\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The su command is often used in conjunction with other commands like sudo for temporary elevated access, passwd for changing passwords, and whoami to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/linux-command-su\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-07T07:01:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hongkiat.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hongkiat.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-su\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-su\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hongkiat.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc686597d92f9086729e4bcc1577ba3\"},\"headline\":\"How to Use the SU Command in Linux\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-07T07:01:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-su\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":529,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Linux\",\"Linux Commands\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Desktop\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-su\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-su\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Use the SU Command in Linux - 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