I noticed something peculiar about the at command and SSH.

When I ssh into a box as username1, then su to username2, then pipe a command to the at command, the resulting at script (/var/spool/atjobs) contains the environment variables of username1 rather than username2.

If I su to username2 and then ssh into the other box, the resulting at script grabs the environment variables of username2.

Both username1 and username2 are mortal user accounts.

Anybody care to explain (not speculate ) why the first scenario happens?

So as not to speculate, please provide the exact command you are using to su to the other account.

1. login as user1 at box1
2. open a terminal window; in my case - Konsole
3. ssh box2
4. su user2
5. echo '/usr/local/bin/shellscript' | at hh:mm mm/dd/yyyy

As root, open the newly created at job script in /var/spool/atjobs. Notice the environment variables are from user1's environment, and not user2's environment.

1. login as user1 at box1
2. open a terminal window; in my case - Konsole
3. su user2
4. ssh box2
5. echo '/usr/local/bin/shellscript' | at hh:mm mm/dd/yyyy

As root, open the newly created at job script in /var/spool/atjobs. Notice the environment variables are from user2's environment --- as expected.

You need to do su - user2. The - loads user2 environment variable. Without the - all user1 environment variables are retained.

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