How to change users in linux

How to Change Users in Linux Command Line

Linux systems have different users and different types of users. Learn how to switch the users in Linux command line or how to change to the root user in Linux.

Linux systems have different types of users with different types or permissions as well.

Not all users can execute all commands and not all users are allowed to switch to other users neither. This all might sound confusing but, I will try to explain these so it can be easy to understand.

For the moment, here’s a quick summary of how to switch users in Linux command line.

To switch users, you need to know the password of that user. You can switch the users with this command:

To switch to root user in Ubuntu, you can use this command:

Various user types in Linux

If you list all users in Linux, you’ll see a lot of users that you didn’t know about. Who are these users? Where did they come from? I could write an entire article in regards of how users work in Linux, however, this is not the idea for this one.

Basically, there are 3 types of users in Linux:

1. System Users

These are the users that are automatically created in Linux systems to be able to run services or applications and are not intended to log in to the system (in fact you can’t log in as any of these users).

2. Regular Users

These are the (human) users who can log in to a system. Each of these users might have or not different permissions or levels in the system which is given by the groups they belong to.

3. Super Users

These are system administrators or users who can perform high-level tasks that can be considered critical or system dangerous.

Switch users in the command line

When using a Linux system you can log in with a user and then simply “switch” to another user through the same command line session. In order to do this, there is a command “su -“, which allows you to switch to become another user:

[email protected]:~$ su - janedoe Password: [email protected]:~$ 

In the above example, you need to know the password of janedoe in order to switch to that user. Which makes sense because if you are going to switch to a user, you need to know the password of that user else it will be a security risk.

Switch to root user

For security reasons, some systems have ‘root’ account blocked for direct login, either locally or remotely, so this means it will not accept someone who tries to log in using ‘root’ even with the correct password.

So, how do you perform actions as the ‘root’ user? That’s what the ‘sudo’ command allows you to.

The sudo command will basically execute anything you want in the system as if the ‘root’ was doing it. You don’t need to know the ‘root’ user’s password, in fact, probably nobody knows it or there is no password assigned to ‘root’. You only need to know your own user’s password and that user must be in the ‘sudoers’ group, which is basically the group of users which can use ‘sudo’ in the system.

Normally, it is a good practice to run the commands with sudo that needs to run with root permission like this:

But if you want to change to root user so that all the subsequent commands will be run as root, you can use:

You’ll use your own password here, not the root account’s password.

As a sudo user yourself, you can create sudo user by adding the user to sudo group.

Linux systems allow you to easily switch users or execute high-level commands with the usage of ‘su‘ and ‘sudo’ commands. And remember: with great sudo power comes great responsibility!

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How to Switch Users in Ubuntu and Other Linux Distributions [Quick Beginner Tip]

It is really simple to switch users in Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution using the terminal.

All you need to do is to know the unsername and its account password and you can switch users with su command:

You’ll be asked to enter the password of the user you want to switch to.

As you can see in the screenshot above, I changed to user prakash from user abhishek in the terminal.

There are some minor details with this method that I’ll share with you in a moment. I’ll also share the graphical way of switching users in Linux if you are using desktop Linux.

If you want to switch to the root user in Ubuntu, you can use the following command:
sudo su
You’ll have to enter your own user password here.

Change user in Linux command line

Let’s see things a bit in detail. To switch users, you need to first know the exact username because tab competition doesn’t work here. You can list all the users in Linux command line by viewing the content of the /etc/passwd file.

You’ll also need to know the password of the user account you want to switch to. This is for security reason, of course.

If you are the admin user or have sudo access, you can change account password with passwd command.

You’ll notice that some people use a — between su and the username. There is a specific reason for that.

When you use -, -l or –login option, you start the shell as a login shell. This means that it will initialize the environment variables like PATH and changes to the home directory of the changed user. It will be as if you logged into the terminal as the second user.

Note: though — is more popular, it is advised to use –login option.

Change users in Linux graphically (for desktop Linux)

If you are using desktop Linux, the above method may not be sufficient for you. Why? Because you switch the user in the terminal only. It is confined to the terminal. Nothing is changed outside the terminal.

If you want to switch users so that you can log in as another user and use all the system (browser, applications etc) graphically, you’ll have to log out and then log back in.

Now the screenshots may look different but the steps remain the same. Here’s how to switch users in Ubuntu Linux.

Go to the top right corner and click the Power Off/Log out option to open the dropdown and you can choose either of Switch User or Log Out.

• Switch User: You get to keep your session active (applications keep on running) for current user. Good for temporarily switching users as you won’t lose your work.
• Log out: Current session ends (all applications are closed). Good when you want to switch to the other user for a long time.

You can choose whichever option is more suited for your need.

Now, you’ll be at the login screen with all the available users for your system. Choose the user account of your choice.

Clearly, you need to know the password of the user account you want to use.

That’s it. I hope you find this quick beginner tip helpful in changing users in Ubuntu and other Linux distributions. Questions and suggestions are always welcome.

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How to Change User in Linux

To change to a different user and create a session as if the other user had logged in from a command prompt, type «su -» followed by a space and the target user’s username. Type the target user’s password when prompted.

How do I change to root user in Linux?

1. Open a terminal Window. Press Ctrl + Alt + T to open the terminal on Ubuntu.
2. To become root user type: sudo -i. sudo -s.
3. When promoted provide your password.
4. After successful login, the $ prompt would change to # to indicate that you logged in as root user on Ubuntu.

How do I switch users in Ubuntu?

Here’s how to switch users in Ubuntu Linux. Go to the top right corner and click the Power Off/Log out option to open the dropdown and you can choose either of Switch User or Log Out. Switch User: You get to keep your session active (applications keep on running) for current user.

How do I login as a different user?

1. Option 1 — Open the browser as a different user:
2. Hold ‘Shift’ and right-click on your browser icon on the Desktop/Windows Start Menu.
3. Select ‘Run as different user’.
4. Enter the login credentials of the user you wish to use.
5. Access Cognos with that browser window and you will be logged in as that user.

How do I see users in Linux?

1. Get a List of All Users using the /etc/passwd File.
2. Get a List of all Users using the getent Command.
3. Check whether a user exists in the Linux system.
4. System and Normal Users.

How do I switch users?

1. From the top of any Home screen, the lock screen, and many app screens, swipe down with 2 fingers. This opens your Quick Settings.
2. Tap Switch user .
3. Tap a different user. That user can now sign in.

How do I list all users in Ubuntu?

1. To access the content of the file, open your terminal and type the following command: less /etc/passwd.
2. The script will return a list that looks like this: root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/bin/sh sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/bin/sh …

How do I Sudo to another user?

Another way to switch to another account with sudo is to use the -s option. If you run sudo -s that will start a shell as root. You can specify a user with the -u option.
.
Using sudo.

Commands	Meaning
sudo -u user command	Run command as user.

How do I switch users in terminal?

1. To switch to the root user on Ubuntu-based distributions, enter sudo su in the command terminal.
2. If you set a root password when you installed the distribution, enter su.
3. To switch to another user and adopt their environment, enter su — followed by the name of the user (for example, su — ted).

How do I login as a different user in Salesforce?

1. From Setup, enter Users in the Quick Find box, then select Users.
2. Click the Login link next to the username. This link is available only for users who have granted login access to an admin or in orgs where admin can log in as any user.
3. To return to your admin account, select User’s Name | Logout.

How do I login as Sudo in putty?

1. Run sudo and type in your login password, if prompted, to run only that instance of the command as root. .
2. Run sudo -i .

How do I switch users on a locked computer?

1. Press the Windows key + L simultaneously (i.e. hold down the Windows key and tap L) on your keyboard and it will lock your computer.
2. Click the lock screen and you’ll be back on the sign-in screen. Select and log in to the account you want to switch to.

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