path: root/man/man1/su.1

'\" t
.\"     Title: su
.\"    Author: Julianne Frances Haugh
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 06/21/2024
.\"    Manual: User Commands
.\"    Source: shadow-utils 4.15.2
.\"  Language: English
.\"
.TH "SU" "1" "06/21/2024" "shadow\-utils 4\&.15\&.2" "User Commands"
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.SH "NAME"
su \- change user ID or become superuser
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.HP \w'\fBsu\fR\ 'u
\fBsu\fR [\fIoptions\fR] [\fI\-\fR] [\fIusername\fR\ [\ \fIargs\fR\ ]]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
The
\fBsu\fR
command is used to become another user during a login session\&. Invoked without a
\fBusername\fR,
\fBsu\fR
defaults to becoming the superuser\&. The
\fB\-\fR
option may be used to provide an environment similar to what the user would expect had the user logged in directly\&. The
\fB\-c\fR
option may be used to treat the next argument as a command by most shells\&.
.PP
Options are recognized everywhere in the argument list\&. You can use the
\fB\-\-\fR
argument to stop option parsing\&. The
\fB\-\fR
option is special: it is also recognized after
\fB\-\-\fR, but has to be placed before
\fBusername\fR\&.
.PP
The user will be prompted for a password, if appropriate\&. Invalid passwords will produce an error message\&. All attempts, both valid and invalid, are logged to detect abuse of the system\&.
.PP
The current environment is passed to the new shell\&. The value of
\fB$PATH\fR
is reset to
/bin:/usr/bin
for normal users, or
/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
for the superuser\&. This may be changed with the
\fBENV_PATH\fR
and
\fBENV_SUPATH\fR
definitions in
/etc/login\&.defs\&.
.PP
A subsystem login is indicated by the presence of a "*" as the first character of the login shell\&. The given home directory will be used as the root of a new file system which the user is actually logged into\&.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.PP
The options which apply to the
\fBsu\fR
command are:
.PP
\fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-command\fR\ \&\fICOMMAND\fR
.RS 4
Specify a command that will be invoked by the shell using its
\fB\-c\fR\&.
.sp
The executed command will have no controlling terminal\&. This option cannot be used to execute interactive programs which need a controlling TTY\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\fR, \fB\-l\fR, \fB\-\-login\fR
.RS 4
Provide an environment similar to what the user would expect had the user logged in directly\&.
.sp
When
\fB\-\fR
is used, it must be specified before any
\fBusername\fR\&. For portability it is recommended to use it as last option, before any
\fBusername\fR\&. The other forms (\fB\-l\fR
and
\fB\-\-login\fR) do not have this restriction\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-s\fR, \fB\-\-shell\fR\ \&\fISHELL\fR
.RS 4
The shell that will be invoked\&.
.sp
The invoked shell is chosen from (highest priority first):
.PP
.RS 4
The shell specified with \-\-shell\&.
.RE
.PP
.RS 4
If
\fB\-\-preserve\-environment\fR
is used, the shell specified by the
\fB$SHELL\fR
environment variable\&.
.RE
.PP
.RS 4
The shell indicated in the
/etc/passwd
entry for the target user\&.
.RE
.PP
.RS 4
/bin/sh
if a shell could not be found by any above method\&.
.RE
.sp
If the target user has a restricted shell (i\&.e\&. the shell field of this user\*(Aqs entry in
/etc/passwd
is not listed in
/etc/shells), then the
\fB\-\-shell\fR
option or the
\fB$SHELL\fR
environment variable won\*(Aqt be taken into account, unless
\fBsu\fR
is called by root\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-m\fR, \fB\-p\fR, \fB\-\-preserve\-environment\fR
.RS 4
Preserve the current environment, except for:
.PP
\fB$PATH\fR
.RS 4
reset according to the
/etc/login\&.defs
options
\fBENV_PATH\fR
or
\fBENV_SUPATH\fR
(see below);
.RE
.PP
\fB$IFS\fR
.RS 4
reset to
\(lq<space><tab><newline>\(rq, if it was set\&.
.RE
.sp
If the target user has a restricted shell, this option has no effect (unless
\fBsu\fR
is called by root)\&.
.sp
Note that the default behavior for the environment is the following:
.PP
.RS 4
The
\fB$HOME\fR,
\fB$SHELL\fR,
\fB$USER\fR,
\fB$LOGNAME\fR,
\fB$PATH\fR, and
\fB$IFS\fR
environment variables are reset\&.
.RE
.PP
.RS 4
If
\fB\-\-login\fR
is not used, the environment is copied, except for the variables above\&.
.RE
.PP
.RS 4
If
\fB\-\-login\fR
is used, the
\fB$TERM\fR,
\fB$COLORTERM\fR,
\fB$DISPLAY\fR, and
\fB$XAUTHORITY\fR
environment variables are copied if they were set\&.
.RE
.PP
.RS 4
If
\fB\-\-login\fR
is used, the
\fB$TZ\fR,
\fB$HZ\fR, and
\fB$MAIL\fR
environment variables are set according to the
/etc/login\&.defs
options
\fBENV_TZ\fR,
\fBENV_HZ\fR,
\fBMAIL_DIR\fR, and
\fBMAIL_FILE\fR
(see below)\&.
.RE
.PP
.RS 4
If
\fB\-\-login\fR
is used, other environment variables might be set by the
\fBENVIRON_FILE\fR
file (see below)\&.
.RE
.sp
.RE
.SH "CAVEATS"
.PP
This version of
\fBsu\fR
has many compilation options, only some of which may be in use at any particular site\&.
.SH "CONFIGURATION"
.PP
The following configuration variables in
/etc/login\&.defs
change the behavior of this tool:
.PP
\fBCONSOLE\fR (string)
.RS 4
If defined, either full pathname of a file containing device names (one per line) or a ":" delimited list of device names\&. Root logins will be allowed only upon these devices\&.
.sp
If not defined, root will be allowed on any device\&.
.sp
The device should be specified without the /dev/ prefix\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBCONSOLE_GROUPS\fR (string)
.RS 4
List of groups to add to the user\*(Aqs supplementary groups set when logging in on the console (as determined by the CONSOLE setting)\&. Default is none\&.

Use with caution \- it is possible for users to gain permanent access to these groups, even when not logged in on the console\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBDEFAULT_HOME\fR (boolean)
.RS 4
Indicate if login is allowed if we can\*(Aqt cd to the home directory\&. Default is no\&.
.sp
If set to
\fIyes\fR, the user will login in the root (/) directory if it is not possible to cd to her home directory\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBENV_HZ\fR (string)
.RS 4
If set, it will be used to define the HZ environment variable when a user login\&. The value must be preceded by
\fIHZ=\fR\&. A common value on Linux is
\fIHZ=100\fR\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBENVIRON_FILE\fR (string)
.RS 4
If this file exists and is readable, login environment will be read from it\&. Every line should be in the form name=value\&.
.sp
Lines starting with a # are treated as comment lines and ignored\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBENV_PATH\fR (string)
.RS 4
If set, it will be used to define the PATH environment variable when a regular user login\&. The value is a colon separated list of paths (for example
\fI/bin:/usr/bin\fR) and can be preceded by
\fIPATH=\fR\&. The default value is
\fIPATH=/bin:/usr/bin\fR\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBENV_SUPATH\fR (string)
.RS 4
If set, it will be used to define the PATH environment variable when the superuser login\&. The value is a colon separated list of paths (for example
\fI/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin\fR) and can be preceded by
\fIPATH=\fR\&. The default value is
\fIPATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin\fR\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBENV_TZ\fR (string)
.RS 4
If set, it will be used to define the TZ environment variable when a user login\&. The value can be the name of a timezone preceded by
\fITZ=\fR
(for example
\fITZ=CST6CDT\fR), or the full path to the file containing the timezone specification (for example
/etc/tzname)\&.
.sp
If a full path is specified but the file does not exist or cannot be read, the default is to use
\fITZ=CST6CDT\fR\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBLOGIN_STRING\fR (string)
.RS 4
The string used for prompting a password\&. The default is to use "Password: ", or a translation of that string\&. If you set this variable, the prompt will not be translated\&.
.sp
If the string contains
\fI%s\fR, this will be replaced by the user\*(Aqs name\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBMAIL_CHECK_ENAB\fR (boolean)
.RS 4
Enable checking and display of mailbox status upon login\&.
.sp
You should disable it if the shell startup files already check for mail ("mailx \-e" or equivalent)\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBMAIL_DIR\fR (string)
.RS 4
The mail spool directory\&. This is needed to manipulate the mailbox when its corresponding user account is modified or deleted\&. If not specified, a compile\-time default is used\&. The parameter CREATE_MAIL_SPOOL in
/etc/default/useradd
determines whether the mail spool should be created\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBMAIL_FILE\fR (string)
.RS 4
Defines the location of the users mail spool files relatively to their home directory\&.
.RE
.PP
The
\fBMAIL_DIR\fR
and
\fBMAIL_FILE\fR
variables are used by
\fBuseradd\fR,
\fBusermod\fR, and
\fBuserdel\fR
to create, move, or delete the user\*(Aqs mail spool\&.
.PP
If
\fBMAIL_CHECK_ENAB\fR
is set to
\fIyes\fR, they are also used to define the
\fBMAIL\fR
environment variable\&.
.PP
\fBQUOTAS_ENAB\fR (boolean)
.RS 4
Enable setting of resource limits from
/etc/limits
and ulimit, umask, and niceness from the user\*(Aqs passwd gecos field\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBSULOG_FILE\fR (string)
.RS 4
If defined, all su activity is logged to this file\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBSU_NAME\fR (string)
.RS 4
If defined, the command name to display when running "su \-"\&. For example, if this is defined as "su" then a "ps" will display the command is "\-su"\&. If not defined, then "ps" would display the name of the shell actually being run, e\&.g\&. something like "\-sh"\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBSU_WHEEL_ONLY\fR (boolean)
.RS 4
If
\fIyes\fR, the user must be listed as a member of the first gid 0 group in
/etc/group
(called
\fIroot\fR
on most Linux systems) to be able to
\fBsu\fR
to uid 0 accounts\&. If the group doesn\*(Aqt exist or is empty, no one will be able to
\fBsu\fR
to uid 0\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBSYSLOG_SU_ENAB\fR (boolean)
.RS 4
Enable "syslog" logging of
\fBsu\fR
activity \- in addition to sulog file logging\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBUSERGROUPS_ENAB\fR (boolean)
.RS 4
Enable setting of the umask group bits to be the same as owner bits (examples: 022 \-> 002, 077 \-> 007) for non\-root users, if the uid is the same as gid, and username is the same as the primary group name\&.
.sp
If set to
\fIyes\fR,
\fBuserdel\fR
will remove the user\*(Aqs group if it contains no more members, and
\fBuseradd\fR
will create by default a group with the name of the user\&.
.RE
.SH "FILES"
.PP
/etc/passwd
.RS 4
User account information\&.
.RE
.PP
/etc/shadow
.RS 4
Secure user account information\&.
.RE
.PP
/etc/login\&.defs
.RS 4
Shadow password suite configuration\&.
.RE
.SH "EXIT VALUES"
.PP
On success,
\fBsu\fR
returns the exit value of the command it executed\&.
.PP
If this command was terminated by a signal,
\fBsu\fR
returns the number of this signal plus 128\&.
.PP
If su has to kill the command (because it was asked to terminate, and the command did not terminate in time),
\fBsu\fR
returns 255\&.
.PP
Some exit values from
\fBsu\fR
are independent from the executed command:
.PP
\fI0\fR
.RS 4
success (\fB\-\-help\fR
only)
.RE
.PP
\fI1\fR
.RS 4
System or authentication failure
.RE
.PP
\fI126\fR
.RS 4
The requested command was not found
.RE
.PP
\fI127\fR
.RS 4
The requested command could not be executed
.RE
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.PP
\fBlogin\fR(1),
\fBlogin.defs\fR(5),
\fBsg\fR(1),
\fBsh\fR(1)\&.