unix user alias

Question

is there a way to set up user aliases in unix such that if you have a user, my_user, they can log in with an alternate username, i.e. my_user_alternate and still be logged in as my_user?

What are you trying to accomplish? – Dennis Williamson Jan 14 '10 at 15:48 — Dennis Williamson, Jan 14 '10 at 15:48

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 14 '10 at 15:51

13

Yes, create the new user and set its UID to be the same as the other one.

This is commonly used to create "alternate" root logins.

answered Jan 14 '10 at 15:51

Massimo

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score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 25 '10 at 16:22

10

You can do this by adding a new user with the same user id (uid) as the one you want as an alternative.

e.g.:

useradd -o -u 1001 my_user_alternate

It's the -o option that allows you to have the same uid. (Assuming that the user you want to 'copy' has a uid of 1020)

answered Jan 25 '10 at 16:22

Amandasaurus

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I'd also add `-g 1001` just to be safe and verbose. – Carl Bennett Apr 28 '15 at 19:30

unix user alias

2 Answers2