su is not su(ing)

ekdya · 09-23-2006, 03:17 PM

[fred@localhost ~]$ su
Password:
[root@localhost ~]# iptables -L
bash: iptables: command not found

but if I exit and relog in as root it works.

adam999 · 09-23-2006, 03:42 PM

use su -

this will use root's PATH

you can also use su - to log in as other users

eg. su - adam (then suppy root password if not logged in as root)

Brian1 · 09-23-2006, 03:42 PM

You need to use ' su - '. Reason su is switches to root but still using the users enviroment variables. Since /sbin is not part of a users path the command you type is not found. If you type ' /sbin/iptables -L ' as su then it would work. So going ' su - ' it will be root with root's enviroment variables and then you can use the command without /sbin since /sbin is part of roots path.

Brian1