newbie question: whats the difference between "su root", "su" and "su -&quo

mojarron · 03-20-2005, 04:15 PM

with all of them i get a password prompt for root, is there any difference between them?

ahh · 03-20-2005, 04:26 PM

su root is the default command for su.

That is, if you type su it will assume you mean su root. To su to another user you will have to add the users name, e.g. su username.

If you use su you will still have the same envioroment, for example the $PATH variable, as the user who su'd.

If you use su - you will have the envioroment of the user you su'd to.

mojarron · 03-20-2005, 04:59 PM

o, i see

thanks a lot ahh

xgreen · 03-20-2005, 11:48 PM

"su" is equiv "su root" and "su -" equiv "su - root"

the diff between "su" and "su -" is "su -" you log in as a root with the env setting/profile (i.e you really log in as a root). just type "pwd" and you will be in the root home dir @ /root.

if you "su" only then basically you just "borrow" the root permission without having all the root env setting/profile . just "su" from your home dir and type "pwd", you can see that you still in the user dir i.e /home/user

marsguy · 03-23-2005, 08:14 AM

thank you so much nazmin

you've been of great help!