What is the Difference between 'su' and 'su-' ?
- 5 Answers
- 12162 Views
- Fujitsu, Locuz, I also Faced
- E-Mail Answers
Answers were Sorted based on User's Feedback
Answer / ramesh seervi
both command is used for switch the user but su will drop
you on the current directory and su - will drop you on the
user's home directory
| Is This Answer Correct ? | 45 Yes | 2 No |
Answer / papseddy
there is little difference in both of these commends...
su --> just switch you to user mode (root) but didn't provide the complete user environment
su - ---> provide you the complete user environment and also direct jump to user home directory.
| Is This Answer Correct ? | 20 Yes | 2 No |
Answer / alf55
Answer 2 is the most correct. Really "su" is "switch user"
and its format is "su optional_options optional_username"
where a missing "username" defaults to "root".
The options "-", "-l", and "--login" are all equivalent.
When the "-" is used, the shell is initialized as if logged
into the machine as the specified user (hence you also end
up in your the home directory of "username". Without the
"-", the current environment is left intact but the user has
been switched to that of "username" hence you are still in
the current directory.
From the "man su" page:
{{{
-, -l, --login
Provide an environment similar to what the user
would expect had
the user logged in directly.
When - is used, it must be specified as the last
su option. The
other forms (-l and --login) do not have this
restriction.
}}}
| Is This Answer Correct ? | 8 Yes | 0 No |
Answer / naresh
SU and SU - doing same job but few diff. is
su <username> is switch user without loading the user environment variable
su -<username> --switch the user with loading the user environment variables.
| Is This Answer Correct ? | 1 Yes | 0 No |
Answer / priyanka doiphode
su command is used to switch to local users.
and, su- command is used to switch to 'root user' or 'admin user'
| Is This Answer Correct ? | 0 Yes | 1 No |
What are the commands used in command prompt?
Working in Linux/Unix platform, if any command dose not work, say # ls reports as command not found. what to do?
Explain the linux ‘cd’ command options along with the description?
To Check Which Service is Running at Present in System what is the Command?
Which commands are used to set a processor-intensive job to use less cpu time?
How do I check memory usage on linux?
who invented unix?
My machine is running half duplex mode how to change half duplex to full duplex?
What does the top command display?
How do I clear bash history in linux?
What is the copy command in linux?
How do I check my system performance?
Linux Commands 
