Where is the runuser command on Ubuntu Server?

Question

When I type in my console "runuser", I am getting "command not found". I though this command was pretty standard, but I cannot find it on my system.

I am on the root user but I do not have the password of the other user.

Please justify when you click on "-1" on a question. Thank you. — user37220, Jun 26 '13 at 12:57
I didn't downvote this (yet), but if you mouse over the down arrowhead, it says "this question does not show any research effort; it is unclear or not useful". If a downvote appears without further comment, you may reasonably assume that that's what the voter thought of your question. — MadHatter, Jun 26 '13 at 12:59
`runuser` is intended for use by system services which need to [change UID and preserve their SELinux security contexts](http://danwalsh.livejournal.com/55588.html). This is not a command that you should be running yourself. — Michael Hampton, Jun 26 '13 at 14:51

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 26 '13 at 12:51

6

On Ubuntu you have su and sudo for this sort of thing:

su - username

Changes to user username, as if that user had logged in.

sudo -u username command

Run a single command as user username.

answered Jun 26 '13 at 12:51

l0b0

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Thanks. However, I am looking for the runuser function because I do not have the password for the other user. – user37220 Jun 26 '13 at 12:56
You don't need the password if you set up `sudoers`. – l0b0 Jun 26 '13 at 12:57
When I do "su - otheruser", I am getting "No directory, logging in with HOME=/". Then when I run "whoami", I get "root". – user37220 Jun 26 '13 at 13:00
`No directory, logging in with HOME=/` is normal if the user has no home directory assigned or the directory doesn't exist. How you get `root` from `whoami` is beyond me. – l0b0 Jun 26 '13 at 13:03
Yes, the error message is normal. It is the whoami which I do not understand. – user37220 Jun 26 '13 at 13:11

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 26 '13 at 13:12

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From your comment on the other answer:

When I do su - otheruser, I am getting No directory, logging in with HOME=/. Then when I run whoami, I get root.

This happens because 'otheruser' hasn't got a shell (like bash). It's probably something like /bin/false. If you want a shell as 'otheruser', use this instead:

sudo -u otheruser /bin/bash

answered Jun 26 '13 at 13:12

ThatGraemeGuy

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This doesn't answer the main question. – reinierpost Jan 19 '16 at 18:34

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 19 '16 at 18:34

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It is in the util-linux package, so if you want it, install that package.

answered Jan 19 '16 at 18:34

reinierpost

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Where is the runuser command on Ubuntu Server?

3 Answers3